Representational Pic
Nagpur/Chandrapur: As summer heat takes the day time temperature to new highs, the wild cat often comes out of dense in search of water. This is where it results into man-animal conflict. In such a incient a tiger killed a man identifed as Vithoba Devaji Upre (68), in Chandrapur forest range while he was collecting mahua flowers in the forest. The mutilated remains of the victim were found scattered in the forest on Sunday morning.
Upre, of Kitali village, had to the forest on Saturday afternoon. When he did not return in the evening, his kin informed local forester Mahendra Navghare who went with a search party into the forest in the night but to no avail.
On Sunday morning, the team discovered a partially eaten leg and dhoti of the victim some distance from the village road. On searching further, other body parts were recovered around 500 metres deep in the jungle. Navghare said the tiger had eaten entire Upre’s portion below the waist.
The remains were sent for post-mortem while senior officers including DFO, Chandrapur division, Raju Dhabekar and ACB VW Morey rushed to the spot. They provided Rs25,000 ex gratia aid to the kin of the victim and promised to pay compensation sum soon after the formalities are completed.
This is the seventh human kill, third within a span of 10 days, by tiger in the district this year. The last three victims too had gone to collect mahua flowers in the forest. Every summer, which is peak season for collection of mahua flowers and tendu leaves, many people fall prey to predator attacks.
