PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Ramnagar
Angry villagers blocked the road outside their village for several hours after an elderly woman was mauled to death by a tiger on Friday afternoon in the forest under Dhikala Range of Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR). They refused to hand the body to police for post-mortem and demanded immediate action to kill the man-eater. It is learnt that the deceased – identified as 65-year-old Sukhiya Devi from Sanwalde Paschimi village- had gone to the forest to collect firewood along with her son, daughters and a neighbour where she was attacked by a tiger. The incident had happened at around 1 PM on Friday, said a member of the forest team which reached the spot upon being informed.
Those who were with her during the incident said that though they had raised an alarm and tried to pull her out from the big cat’s jaws, it succeeded in dragging her into the dense forest. Her son, Arun immediately informed the villagers and forest personnel posted at Babaliya outpost of Dhikala range.
The Forest personnel fired several rounds in the air after which the tiger abandoned the body and disappeared into the forest. The body was later recovered from about one km inside the forest from the road.
On receiving information, the director, Corbett Tiger Reserve, Saket Badola; SSP Manjunath TC; deputy director, CTR, Rahul Mishra and SDO, Kalagarh, Amit Gwasikoti reached the spot.
After the officials assured that the tiger would be captured soon and that all possible assistance would be provided to the victim’s family, the road blockade was lifted after nearly three hours. The police then sent the body to the mortuary for post-mortem.
Badola stated that camera traps and cages are being installed in the forest. The search operation to capture the man-eater would also be carried out with the help of drones, he said, adding that compensation would be provided to the deceased’s family as per rules. He further advised the villagers not to enter the forest till the man-eater was captured.
