BHOPAL: The killing of a 30-year-old specially abled man by a tiger triggered violence inside the Pench Tiger Reserve in Chhindwara district of southern Madhya Pradesh on Monday night.
Despite repeated advisories to villagers living in buffer zones and nearby areas not to enter the core forest, especially at night, Dinesh Sevatkar entered the reserve around 8 pm and went to a water body frequently visited by tigers. He was subsequently mauled to death by a tiger.
Following the incident, angry villagers staged protests inside the reserve. A mob of around 200–300 people dismantled the wooden Jamtara Gate (one of the tourist entry points) damaged government vehicles, and set fire to a small patch of forest land.
As the mob outnumbered the forest staff, police forces from nearby stations in Chhindwara district were deployed. The situation was brought under control by around 11.30 pm. Videos showing villagers misbehaving with forest officials and using abusive language surfaced on social media on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
This marks the fourth death due to tiger attacks in or around the Pench Tiger Reserve, popularly known as the Land of Jungle Book’s Mowgli, since January. Villagers were particularly agitated as it was the second such incident within two weeks.
Earlier, on April 1, a man collecting Mahua flowers in the Kumbhapani buffer zone was killed by a tiger during pre-dawn hours, despite similar warnings against entering dense forests at night.
Sources within the reserve alleged that some individuals previously penalised for forest-related offences, such as illegal tree cutting, may have played a role in inciting the violence.
Officials said a compensation of Rs 8 lakh is being provided to the victim’s family, though villagers are demanding Rs 25 lakh and a government job for a family member.
With the Mahua flower collection and Tendu leaf plucking season underway, villagers continue to enter dense forests with high tiger density, often ignoring safety advisories.
Similar incidents have also been reported recently in the Satpura Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, where two villagers, including a woman, were killed in tiger attacks.
Officials attribute the rising number of human-animal conflicts to increasing tiger populations and their movement into new territories. Between 2020–21 and 2024–25, as many as 380 people lost their lives in such conflicts across the state, with annual fatalities -- 90 in 2020-21, 57 in 2021-22, 86 in 2022-23, 76 in 2023-24 and 71 in 2024-25.
As many as 5,717 people suffered injuries of different magnitude in incidents of human-animal conflict between 2020-21 and 2024-25, with maximum 1320 in 2022-23 and minimum 889 in 2024-25.