25 Mar 2008, 0323 hrs IST,
CHANDRAPUR: In yet another incident of tiger attack, a villager was killed in the protected area of Nagbhid forest range under North Chandrapur Forest Circle on Monday morning.
Kashinath Suryawanshi (50) became the sixth human to have been killed by the big cat in Chandrapur district so far this year. He had gone to the jungle with his family members to collect leaves of the Palash tree, which are used to make leaf-plates (patrawali).
Sources said Suryawanshi, a resident of Jankapur village in Nagbhid tehsil, had gone to the forest under Mindala beat, close to the nearby Adyal Mendha village on Monday morning. Around 11 am, while the entire family had scattered in the forest to collect Palash leaves, the tiger attacked Suryawanshi, killing him on the spot.
Alerted by the loud noise, other family members rushed to the spot. And, before the tiger could drag away Suryawanshi’s body deep into the jungle, the members started raised an alarm that scared the tiger away. Later, the Suryawanshis reached Adyal Mendha village and reported the incident to the forest department.
“The tiger attacked Suryawanshi from behind and he must have been instantly killed. Injury marks were found on his neck and we have recovered tiger pugmarks on the spot,” said Rahul Sorte, RFO, Talodhi forest range, who was amongst the officials who performed inquest on the spot. He said an ex-gratia of Rs 2,000 had been given to the family as instant financial help, while compensation as per norms would be provided after completion of formalities. He also confirmed that there had been a similar incident in the same area in August last year, in which a villager was injured. However, it is entirely different area from Talodhi forest range, where last year a tiger had created menace, Sorte clarified.
This is seventh incident of tiger attack on human in the district this year, in which six persons have lost their lives while one was seriously injured.
Dee
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