Day after Rajasthan man was mauled to death, tiger found dead in village; ‘may have been attacked with blunt object’

On Saturday, a resident of the village had been killed in a tiger attack. However, Chief Conservator of Forest, Sawai Madhopur, Anoop K R told The Indian Express that it is yet to be ascertained whether the tiger that was found dead was the same one that attacked and killed the man.

“Post-mortem reports suggest that the tiger was attacked by a blunt object, which raises the possibility that humans may have attacked it. But there are no eye-witnesses to the incident. We are following procedure, and if there is any evidence of killing a tiger, we will take required action,” said Anoop.

Regarding Saturday’s tiger attack that killed the village resident, Anoop said, “Maybe the tiger was injured in a territorial fight. Maybe the human and tiger got in each other’s way, which is why the tiger attacked. There is no incident of another tiger attack on a human from the area.”

The man who was killed was identified as Bharat Lal Meena, son of Ram Kalyan Meena, a resident of Uliyana. According to officials, he was grazing his goats in a field adjacent to the wall of Ranthambore National Park, when at around 4.30 pm, a tiger attacked him. He died on the spot, after which the tiger sat with the body for about 20 minutes before going back into the forest area when other residents of the village made noises to scare it away.

Residents alleged that they had informed Forest Department officials about the incident, but no one reached the spot. Angered by this, they blocked the Sawai Madhopur-Kundera Road.

The jam was cleared only after 21 hours, following a visit by Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena, who spoke to the family members of the victim and heard their demands. An agreement was reached with the administration for the family of the tiger attack victim to be given a compensation of Rs 15 lakh.