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Dudhwa tiger kills priest; sixth attack since April 2021
A 52-year-old priest, Mohan Das, was attacked and killed by a tiger near Manjhra Purab forests under the Dudhwa buffer zone on Friday night
A 52-year-old priest, Mohan Das, was attacked and killed by a tiger near Manjhra Purab forests under the Dudhwa buffer zone on Friday night. The mutilated body of the victim was recovered on Saturday morning, officials said.
Mohan Das was working as a priest at the Ram Janki Temple, which is located in the vicinity of the Manjhra Purab forests. This is the sixth human casualty in a tiger attack in this region since April 9, 2021. It is yet to be established if the same tiger is attacking or different tigers are involved, as the movement of big cats in this area is a routine feature, they added.
Some villagers claimed to have seen a tiger dragging the body into the forests, following which they intimated the local forest authorities.
The incident angered the residents following which they held a demonstration on the road with the body remains and demanded immediate relief from the tiger terror prevailing in the area for the past several years.
Field director (FD), Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Sanjay Kumar Pathak, SDM Rajesh Kumar, Tikunia kotwali staff and others rushed the staff to pacify the agitated villagers. After several rounds of talks, the forest officials assured to follow up the proposal for wire-fencing of the forest area besides arranging cages to trap the killer tiger.
The forest authorities also agreed to set up signboards demarcating the boundaries between Dudhwa National Park and the adjoining Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
Later the agitating villagers agreed to perform the last rituals of the deceased.
FD Sanjay Kumar Pathak said, “The pattern in which the tiger has attacked and eaten up the body indicates it to be a man-eater.”
Pathak said he would send a report in this regard to the UP chief wildlife warden seeking his instructions to tranquillize the big cat.
Pathak said, “In the meantime, it has been instructed to install cameras in the area to ascertain if the same or different big cats were causing the human casualties.”
“Teams of forest field staff would be deployed to patrol the area on elephants to ward off big cat movements,” Pathak added.
Earlier on May 21 this year, a tiger had killed a 30-year youth Mahesh of Dumeda village in this area followed by the killing of another 30-year youth Kamlesh of Saypur Padhuva village on May 24.
