UP Farmer killed in tiger attack near Pilibhit Tiger Reserve mutilated body found in field

Pilibhit (UP), May 14 (PTI) A 50-year-old farmer was killed in a suspected tiger attack near Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, triggering panic among villagers in the Sehraamau North area of the district, forest officials said on Wednesday.
    The mutilated body of the man, Hansraj, was recovered from an agricultural field near Nazirganj village, which lies adjacent to the reserve, they said.
    According to Shaheer Ahmad, ranger of the Haripur forest range, the incident occurred late Tuesday when Hansraj was returning home after irrigating his fields. A tiger allegedly attacked him and dragged his body around 300 metres into a nearby field.
    Forest and police officials reached the spot after being informed, and the body was sent for post-mortem around 1 am on Wednesday, he said.
    Hansraj’s son, Mahesh Kumar, said his father had gone to the fields for irrigation and was returning on a bicycle ahead of others when the tiger attacked him.
    "Others had also gone towards the fields, but since my father was on a bicycle, he reached early. That is when the tiger attacked him," he said.
    Mahesh said when his father did not return home for long, family members launched a search. His blood-soaked handkerchief was found first and then the tiger was spotted mauling his body around 300 metres away.
    He added that villagers used loud noises and firecrackers to drive the animal away.
    Mahesh alleged that despite repeated tiger sightings in the area over the past two days, the forest department had failed to take any preventive action.
    “We had informed the department, but no steps were taken to capture or relocate the animal,” he claimed.
    Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Puranpur, Ajit Pratap Singh, visited the victim’s family and assured them of all possible assistance from the government.
    He said the forest department has been put on high alert following the incident.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)