Special teams deployed to nab ‘man-eater’ of Asifabad
ADILABAD: A day after a 22-year-old tribal man was mauled to death by a tiger in the forest area near Deegada village of Kumrambheem-Asifabad district’s Dahegaon mandal, the Forest Department officials have swung into action and started making efforts to nab the big cat.
The tribal youngster, Siddam Vigneshwar, was killed by a tiger, which is yet to be identified, while he, along with two friends, was fishing in the Peddavagu river.In the wake of the incident, which has sent shock waves across the erstwhile district, the department authorities have deployed four special teams, with a total of 20 members, in the forest area to monitor the tiger movement.On the other hand, they have also arranged trap cages at three different places to nab the tiger.
It is learnt that the residents of around 11 villages, situated on the district border, are scared to even step out of their homes, let alone go for work in their farmlands.In the meantime, the officials have advised villagers not to venture into the forest area as the same tiger might visit the spot, where it attacked the youngster, in the next 24 hours, as this is a usual habit of tigers.
However, it has to be mentioned here that the migration of tigers from Tadoba and Tippeshwar reserves in Maharashtra and Indravati Reserve in Chhattisgarh has been on the rise for the past couple of years. In the meantime, the State forest officials have collected the pug marks of the tiger and shared it with Maharashtra officials. This has been done as the authorities are still doubtful if the tiger had just migrated from the neighbouring State, as Deegada is situated just 30 km away from Maharashtra. Kawal Reserve field director CP Vinod Kumar visited the village and inspected the injuries on the victim’s body.
Final rites of Siddam Vigneshwar were held at his native village of Deegada on Thursday. Sirpur MLA Koneru Konappa met the family members of Vigneshwar and consoled them. On the occasion, he informed that the government will provide them a compensation of `5 lakh. Meanwhile, the Congress party in-charge of Sirpur-Kagaznagar constituency, P Harish, demanded that the government provide a compensation of at least `15 lakh to the kin of the deceased tribal. He too visited Vigneshwar’s family members.