145;Stray tiger may reach Lucknow anytime146;

Saturday. Prawesh 10, a villager, said: 8220;I took my cows to the jungle for grazing. When I came back after a while, I saw the tiger circling the cows. I ran as fast as I could and alerted other villagers.8221; The villagers are now scared to even move out of their houses.

Its pug marks were last spotted in Kiwaripur village in Barabanki on Friday. 8220;The tiger has covered nearly 15 km to reach Harak range in Barabanki district. It had killed two goats and has not been spotted since then,8221; said AK Singh, Divisional Forest Officer, Harak range, Barabanki. He added, 8220;Barely five kilometres from Lucknow, it just has to cross the Gomti to reach the city.8221;

Usually scared of glaring lights, the tiger managed to cross the busy railway crossing in Safedabad. Forest officials said the tiger must have crossed around 3 am on Saturday.

They also said it is unusual for a tiger to move during daytime. 8220;However, it travelled quite a bit of distance during the day on Saturday and even made a killing. It could be due to hunger as well,8221; said Singh.

He, however, added, 8220;Once the animal is out of its natural habitat, its behaviour cannot be predicted.8221;

Two elephants have also been called in from the Dudhwa National Park for rescue operations. To capture the tiger, forest officials have laid a trap in the forests of Harak range with three goats as live bait. The pugmarks are also being tracked to ascertain its movement.

8220;There is a possibility that the tiger must have moved ahead,8221; Singh said.