Tiger that struck terror after killing three people in Chandrapur captured

Vilas Randhaye, 48, was tending to his paddy crops at Chandrapur’s Mendha village on Wednesday when a tiger pounced on him and dragged him into the forest as his helpless wife and children watched the entire episode in horror

Vilas Randhaye, 48, was tending to his paddy crops at Chandrapur’s Mendha village on Wednesday when a tiger pounced on him and dragged him into the forest as his helpless wife and children watched the entire episode in horror.

The tiger was captured by the forest and wildlife department on Thursday morning Forest department (Brahmapuri division)

A day before, 62-year-old Mukharu Raut was mauled to death by the same wild cat. Another villager, Tarachand Chandankhede, 63, was killed on June 28. On the same day, the sub-adult tiger is suspected to have attacked a person who escaped with injuries. The attacks occurred in agricultural fields and grazing pastures on the fringes of the Brahmapuri territorial forest range, in the eastern part of the district.

On Thursday morning, the forest and wildlife department captured the two-and-a-half-year-old animal, known as T103-SAM1. The tiger, along with its sibling T103-SAM2, had recently separated from their mother, tigress T103, officials said.

Dr Ravikant Khobragade, the wildlife veterinarian who led the operation to trace, dart, and cage the big cat, said the animal was showing aberrant behaviour.

“After leaving their mother, young sub-adults generally move into denser forests where their usual prey base is. However, SAM1 and SAM2 instead started wandering around agricultural fields and into villages. This posed a danger not just to people but also to the animal. It had killed two humans in two days, so we knew we had to act quickly. We tranquilised the tiger within 12 hours of the attack on Randhaye,” Khobragade said.

The operation, officials said, was swift and efficient. After tracking the animal through the previous night, it was darted at 6.45 am and caged at 7.30 am. “The animal will be kept at the Chandrapur tiger treatment and transit facility. A thorough medical examination has been conducted,” Dipesh Malhotra, deputy conservator of forests, Brahmapuri, said.

Now, a state-level committee headed by the chief wildlife warden of Maharashtra will decide whether it will be kept in captivity or released into the forest.

At least 16 people in Chandrapur have died in tiger attacks so far this year while five have been killed by leopards. Two tiger-related deaths in quick succession were also reported between June 10 and 15.