Bengaluru/Chikkamagaluru: A tiger attacked and killed a woman labourer near Pandrolli village in Chikkamagaluru district early on Saturday morning.
The deceased, Sumitra Anand (35), who was from Undaravalli, was heading to work in a coffee estate in Kesre, about 3 km from her village, when the tiger, sitting on a boulder, pounced on her from behind and killed her around 8 am.
The other villagers, who were walking down the path later, found bloodstains and her abandoned tiffin box on the path and decided to investigate. They found her half-eaten body about 200 metres from the attack site. A team from Bannerghatta Biological Park has been sent to tranquilise the big cat.
Following a public uproar in a village near Chikkamagaluru where a tiger mauled a woman to death, the Forest Department has ordered immediate capturing of the tiger and sent a team from Bannerghatta Biological Park to tranquilise the animal.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning outside Pandrolli village, around 25 km from Chikkamagaluru. The deceased, Sumitra Anand (35) – a labourer, was heading to a coffee estate for her daily work when the tiger, seated on a boulder, attacker her from behind and dragged her down a small hillock, around 200 metres from the attack site, forest department officials said.
Sumitra, who was from Underravalli, walked every day to work at Kesre, which is around 3 km. On Saturday, she started off from home around 8 am.
The other labourers, who went on the narrow path later, found blood stains and an abandoned tiffin box. They decided to investigate and following the trail of blood for a few metres, they found Sumitra’s partially eaten body. They ran back to the village to inform others.
The forest officials reached the spot and combed the area, but could not sight the tiger. The big cat came back near the body around 4 pm, but immediately disappeared into the thicket of tall elephant grass next to the path after seeing a large number of people at the spot. The foresters have now placed a cage to catch the killer tiger.
“Villagers in this area have reported sighting two tigers. We are already tracking an animal in Kaimara area which is said to be coming close to human habitations.
This tiger in Pandrolli may have grown old and unable to hunt its natural prey. That could be the reason for it to come near the village. We are not sure whether this tiger has turned into a man-eater or it was just an accidental attack.
We have called the team from Bengaluru and we hope to tranquilise the tiger soon,” said Mr M.S. Manik, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Chikkamagaluru.
Villagers said that the tiger might have come from a hillock near the village. They alleged they had complained to the forest department officials several times about the presence of the big cat, but the officials did not capture or relocate it.
A member of the State Wildlife Board, Mr Rana George, visited the family along with other forest officials. The government has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of the deceased.
