MYSURU: An 18-year-old youth from Balle tribal settlement in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve was killed by a tiger on Sunday morning, while the headless body of an 11-year-old boy, who was suspected to have been killed by a leopard, was found near Horalahalli village in T Narasipura taluk on Sunday morning.
As the same leopard is believed to have killed two people in two days in T Narasipura taluk, CM Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday that the forest department has been told to form a special task force and to comb the nearby forests to catch the killer leopard.
On Friday, a 60-year-old woman, Siddamma, was killed by the big cat at Kannayakanahalli, which is next to Horalahalli, the village of the deceased boy, Jayant. Bommai said the forest department will carry out the combing operation in a 2-3 km radius to catch the leopard. The forest and police officials should carry out night patrolling to prevent any further attacks, and villagers should be told not to step out at night, he added.
Bommai said the government has increased the compensation to families of those killed by wild animals. “The deputy commissioner has been asked to visit the spot and hand over the cheque to the boy’s family,” he added.
At Nagarahole, foresters suspected that the deceased, Manju, who is from a tribal settlement, was attacked by a tigress that is prowling near Kabini backwaters with its four cubs. The attack happened behind the DB Kuppe range forest office, which is 300 metres from the settlement, around 11 am. The skull of the youth had been ripped apart by the big cat.
In the leopard attack case, foresters said the boy’s body was found in a bush in Naragyathanahalli village, which is 1.5 km from Horalahalli. The family members and villagers claimed that the leopard killed the boy near his house on Saturday night and later dragged the body to the neighbouring village in the dark. But forest officials also suspect human sacrifice as it was no moon day on Saturday and requested Mysuru SP Seema Latkar to conduct further probe.
No blood stains, pug marks, say foresters
But forest officials also suspected a human sacrifice angle as it was no moon day on Saturday and requested Mysuru SP Seema Latkar to conduct further probe. Foresters thought it was unusual that no blood stains of the victim were found on the track where the leopard is suspected to have dragged the boy for 1.5 km.
They also did not find pug marks of the leopard near the body. In the first incident at Ukkalagere Sri Mallikarjuna Betta, where the leopard killed 19-year-old C M a n - juantha, the foresters had found blood stains, cloth and slippers, but in this case, there are no blood stains.
The swab and body samples of the victim have been sent to the lab to determine the exact cause of death. The foresters have formed a separate team to search for the head of the boy, which is missing.