Keladevi: Tiger mauls man to death; 3 people killed by T-104 this year

Jaipur: A tiger of Ranthambore National Park mauled to death a 26-year-old man in Keladevi wildlife sanctuary on Thursday. The man, identified as Pintu Mali, was sitting on a bed in his agriculture land near Sapotara town in Karauli district when the tiger attacked him from behind and dragged into the neighbouring farm. The tiger – known as T-104 – has killed two more people this year.

Infuriated over the incident, the villagers held two forest employees including a guard hostage. The police had to intervene to free the hostages.

“Pintu died on the spot. His mother and wife tried to save him, but the tiger attacked them also. The victim’s mother saved herself by throwing a shovel at the tiger. The animal left the scene,” said a forest department officer.

T-104 is a tiger of Ranthambore National Park. He has been trying to carve out a territory for himself. A team of eight forest department employees have been tracking the tiger for a long time. The villagers alleged that the forest department didn’t alert them even when they knew about the tiger’s movement in the village over the past three days.

“The tiger is still in the area where he attacked the man. We are trying to tranquilize the tiger. We have announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family members of the victim,” said the officer.

The same tiger had killed a man, identified as Roop Singh in Keladevi on July 30. Another victim was Munni  Yogi who was attacked by the tiger in Kundera Padali village on February 2.