ADILABAD: Sirpur-Kagaznagar MLA Koneru Konappa, on Friday, handed over compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of Siddam Vigneshwar, a tribal youth who was killed by a tiger in the forest area near Deegada village of Kumrambheem-Asifabad district’s Dahegaon mandal two days ago. The ex gratia money was handed over directly to Vigneshwar’s parents Siddam Dashru and Shankar Bai.
Meanwhile, Telangana Forest Department officials said on Friday that after analysing the pugmarks of the tiger that mauled the youth to death, they have found that it is not one of those big cats which have been prowling in the erstwhile district. The officials suspect that this ‘man-eater’ is new to the area and might have migrated from Maharashtra recently, as the newly found pugmarks do not match with pugmarks of those tigers which have been moving in and around the tiger corridor for past few years.
Field analysis and continuous tracking showed that the tiger has moved towards Penchikalpet range of Kagaznagar division, situated on the Maharashtra border, and that it could be moving back towards the neighbouring State. The Forest Department, in a media release, said: “The Conservator of Forests, Adilabad, formed seven teams, each comprising five members, to conduct round-the-clock patrolling in the limits of the seven surrounding villages. The sarpanches and all residents are cooperating with the officials and have formed teams among themselves for protection of people and village livestock.”
The Telangana Chief Wildlife Warden has also constituted a committee as per standard operating procedure issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.