40-year-old man mauled to death by tiger in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur

According to the state wildlife officials, the incident occurred when Purushottam Bopche, 40, a resident of Indira Nagar of Lohara, a security guard with local Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd went inside the jungle to pick up some wildflowers

An industrial worker was mauled in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur was mauled to death by a tiger in the Lohara forest range of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve on Friday morning, officials said.

(File Photo)

This was the third such incident in the district this month alone.

According to the state wildlife officials, the incident occurred when Purushottam Bopche, 40, a resident of Indira Nagar of Lohara, a security guard with local Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd went inside the jungle to pick up some wildflowers.

The officials said that his body was found near the Chandrapur-Mul road of Tadoba buffer zone by his wife and her friend, who went looking for Bopche after he didn’t return home till the afternoon.

Chief conservator of forests, Chandrapur Circle, Jitendra Ramgaonkar, said that after knowing of the incident, forest department officials and police department reached the spot and recovered the victim’s body. Panchnama was done and the body was handed over to the family, he said.

Similarly, on April 18, a 53-year-old woman was mauled and killed by a tiger near Saoli, adjacent to the Tadoba tiger reserve while she was sleeping outside her home at Virkhalchak village.

With the latest incident, the toll of tiger victims in the district reached 10 since January this year alone, said forest department officials. As many as 53 people were killed in attacks by tigers and leopards in Chandrapur district in 2022.