Maneater of Talodhi strikes again

Homraj’s mother raised an alarm, attracting the attention of other farmers who ran towards the forest, forcing the wild cat to retreat.

The same tigress had in the third week of October killed three persons, including a woman, in the paddy fields in the same range. It had also injured two others. The incidents had created panic in the area, with people and local MLAs and politicians blaming the Forest Department.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) B Majumdar had ordered shooting of the animal. A team of four commandos of Chandrapur police has been combing the affected forest areas for about a month now, but the tigress has been eluding them.

While all previous incidents of attacks took place close to villages, the Wednesday’s incident happened a few kilometres away from the Owala and Govindpur villages.

The latest incident has triggered a wave of anger among the people in the area. They are blaming the Forest Department for being unable to kill the tigress.