Nagpur: Incidents of tiger attack on humans are on the rise in and around Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), causing panic and anguish among villagers. In the latest incident, a farmer was killed by a tiger in Jamunia village near Tuyapar beat, Compartment No 246 (PF) of Paoni (Unified Control) Range of PTR on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to information, Sukram Saryam (55), a resident of Tuyapar village was going towards his farm, around 6 pm on Tuesday. When Saryam was traversing the bushes, a tiger hiding in the bushes, suddenly attacked him. The tiger cut Saryam’s body into three. On Wednesday morning, some villagers noticed the mutilated body of Saryam near the farm. They immediately alerted the Forest Department.
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Friday 20 Dec. 2024
Meanwhile, a large number of villagers gathered at the spot and staged agitation. Forest officials confirmed the attack on Wednesday morning. They are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. Saryam’s is the 11th fatal tiger attack reported in PTR since 2020 and second in one month. Earlier this month, a tiger attacked a villager identified as Rajkumar Khandate, a resident of Khanora village in Belda Beat.
It may be noted that the Forest Department teams are yet to trace the tigress that killed a tribal woman last month in Deolapar range. Since the incident, villagers vandalised forest vehicles and injured forest guards. Back to back attacks of tiger on humans have raised concern among the villagers while foresters are under pressure to capture the problem tigers.
PTR Dy Director assures to cage the tiger soon:
Following the fresh incident of tiger attack on humans, hundreds of villagers vandalised vehicles of the Forest Department when the foresters came to inspect the spot. Also, the agitating crowd ‘gheraoed’ PTR Deputy Director. The villagers refused to hand over the body of Sukram Saryam to the Forest Department officers and demanded the problem tiger be captured before another human life is lost.
Dr Prabhunath Shukla, Deputy Director, PTR, assured the agitating villagers that the tiger will be captured soon. As an immediate relief, the senior officer handed over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to the victim’s family. After panchanama, the body was sent to a hospital for post-mortem. The Forest Department has initiated further inquiry.
