GUWAHATI: A 60-year-old man lost his life in a suspected tiger attack in Kaliabor area of Assam.
The dismembered remains of the victim, Basudev Karmakar, were recovered on Sunday morning. He was reported missing after he had entered a forested area on Saturday to collect firewood.
“We suspect the involvement of a tiger in the incident. The body is almost gone. Only a few bones and the head are left,” a forest department official told journalists at the site.
“After being informed about the missing man at dusk yesterday (Saturday), we, along with police personnel and villagers, conducted a search. We did not enter much into the jungle as it was dark. The locals informed us this morning about the recovery of the body. We found the body parts at the Kamakhya Reserve Forest,” the official added.
The Kamakhya Reserve Forest is adjacent to the Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve.
“The man had entered the jungle along with some others. They fled after the tiger had appeared,” a local claimed. He said this was the second tiger attack in the area in recent times.
Last month, the police had arrested nine persons for attacking a tigress with stones and sticks, almost blinding it, in Kaliabor.
In August, a full-grown tiger had killed an armed home guard at the Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve on the north bank of the Brahmaputra. The incident occurred when the deceased, Dhanmoni Deka, and casual worker Md Sahajul Haque were patrolling an area as part of their regular drill.
The tiger dragged the victim by the neck and entered the jungle, Haque, who escaped unscathed, had then told the media narrating the incident. The home guard’s body was found deep inside the jungle the next day.