The dismembered remains of a person identified as Javaraiah (60) were found in the Maddur range of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve on Friday in yet another case of tiger attack triggering panic among the local community and the Forest Department staff.
The incident took place near Maddur Colony, which is inhabited by tribal people, in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district. Eyewitnesses said that Javaraiah, a Soliga tribal, had ventured out to graze cattle and was seated near a bush when he was attacked by the tiger, mauled and dragged away.
Conservator of Forests H.C. Kantharaj, who is the director of the tiger reserve, said that the nature of injury indicates a tiger attack. “We will collect further evidence from the spot on Saturday and take a decision on the future course of action,” he added.
Meanwhile, the authorities issued a cheque of Rs. 1 lakh to the family members of the dead man. They will disburse an additional sum of Rs. 4 lakh after the completion of the formalities.
Meanwhile, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) representative D. Rajkumar, who visited the spot, told The Hindu that post-mortem indicated that there was evidence of canine incision with signs of claw tearing through the flesh which lends credence to the theory that it was a carnivore attack.
This is the fourth such incident in the last one month being reported from Bandipur forest alone. A tiger, which was subsequently tranquilised and captured at Chikkabargi, had claimed three lives in H.D. Kote in Mysore district in a week. In another unrelated incident, a forest guard was mauled and killed by a tiger in the adjoining Nagarahole National Park around the same time.
