A villager trying to locate his missing cattle was attacked and killed by a tiger early today morning, forest officials said here today, who added that steps have been taken to gun down the man eater.
According to the officials, one Dattu Pandurang Dhole (35), a resident of Dongar Haldi village in Pombhurna tehsil of the district, went into the forest area in search of his missing cattle early on Sunday along with two villagers.
As they were searching for the cattle in compartment number 516 of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) under the Chichpalli range, a tiger attacked Dattu, caught him by his neck and dragged his body into the nearby bushes while the two companions managed to climb a tree.
One of Dattu's companions managed to contact other villagers using his cellphone, after which senior forest officials, including Chief Conservator of Forests (Chandrapur Division) Sanjay Thakre, FDCM General Manager (North Chandrapur), S S Dhole and others rushed to the spot.
However, tension prevailed after villagers refused cremate Dattu's body until the forest department issued orders to shoot the man-eater.
"We have identified the feline that is responsible for killing humans in the area. It is indeed, one of the two sub-adult male tigers seen near Ghanoti during its last human kill. Three teams of expert marksmen have been placed in the area to gun down the tiger," Thakre said.
Meanwhile, the forest department has paid an ex-gratia of Rs 30,000 to the kin of Dattu before his body was taken to Pombhurna for post-mortem, officials said.
