The deceased have been identified as Ratan Majhi, Nakul Majhi and Rabi Rana.
According to information, the incident took place in the Luakhen forest near the Samarsingh village on Friday. A native of the Samarsingh village had been to the Luakhen forest to collect firewood. A group of locals ventured into the forest in search of the man as he did not come back home for a long time. Meanwhile, a bear attacked them while the group retaliated with wooden planks and stones. As a result, as many as three from them died on the spot while two others sustained critical injuries during the conflict.
On being informed, forest officials and fire services personnel rushed to the spot and initiated a search operation to trace out the deceased. Meanwhile, the carcass of the dreaded bear was recovered whereas the bodies are yet to be spotted.
