Nagpur: A 58-year-old shepherd, identified as Rajkumar Dashrath Khandate, was killed by a tiger on Sunday evening in the Paoni territorial range of Ramtek Tehsil. The attack took place deep inside the forest in reserve forest compartment number 750, near a water body known as Gondi Phata Lake.
Khandate, a resident of Khanora in Deolapar tehsil, had gone to the forest to graze his cattle when the tiger attacked him. Khandate was in his agriculture land near Gondi Phata lake where his cattle was grazing when the tiger attacked and killed him. The incident took place around 4 pm. The shepherd died on the spot after the tiger attack. After hearing about the incident, a large number of villagers gathered at the spot but the tiger fled. The villagers informed the Forest Department immediately after the incident.
Gold Rate
03 June 2025
RFO Rishikesh Patil with his team and police team of Deolapar Police Station rushed to the spot and conducted a panchnama of the spot. After the panchnama, the body was sent for the post-mortem at Deolapar rural hospital. The villagers of Ramtek taluka are already in panic due to repeated tiger attacks in the region and in a recent incident, a tribal woman Meeta Kumre (65) was killed by a tigress near Jhinjriya village.
After that incident, villagers attacked forest staff and injured 4-5 forest guards and vandalised government vehicles. The cowherd’s death is the ninth such tiger incident in the taluka and the Forest Department is on a search of a tigress that killed the tribal woman but still the big cat is elusive. Now this latest incident increased panic among villagers and tension also prevailed on Sunday night. The villagers are demanding capture of the problem tiger as soon as possible.
The forest department has intensified patrolling and deployed 10 camera traps to identify the tiger responsible for the attack and take necessary action to prevent further loss of human life.
The forest department has decided to employ the son of the victim as a temporary forest labourer and will also hand over a cheque of Rs10 lakh to the family on Monday morning as part of the Rs 25 lakh package paid to victims of tiger and wild animal attacks.
The incident has raised concerns among locals about the safety of those who venture into the forest for their livelihood, such as shepherds and cattle grazers. The forest department is expected to take steps to prevent such incidents in the future and ensure the safety of both humans and animals in the region.
