Minister gives shoot at sight order against Mysore man-eater

Mysore, Dec 4: Yet another man lost his life in

attack in Chikkabargi forests in the H D Kote taluk of Mysore district of Karnataka on Tuesday evening, creating panic among those living on the fringes of the forests.

This is the fourth instance of death due to tiger attack in the Bandipur-Nagarhole belt in past one week. On Saturday, a forest watcher was killed in Nagarhole forest.

The victim of the latest attack was identified as Basappa, 55, a farmer who took his cattle close to the forest when he was reportedly attacked by the tiger. The incident happened in Hediyala range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

The state govt announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the dead

Highly placed sources in Bandipur Tiger Reserve confirmed that the tiger that killed Basappa had also killed Cheluva, a tribal from Seegevadi village a few days ago and Basavaraj from Nadadihaadi.
The forest department began a combing operation after the second attack but called it off on Monday and instead tightened security at the fringe areas of the forest. It would resume on Wednesday, sources in the department said.

Meanwhile, local villagers protested near the forest department guest house against the growing animal attacks and the authorities had to deploy additional policemen to pacify the agitators.

The Bandipur-Nagarhole area is home to around 180 tigers and is surrounded by around 300 villages, making the man-animal conflict a common occurrence in these parts.

On Wednesday, state forest minister Ramanath Rai gave shoot at sight orders to kill the man-eater.

The state government also declared Rs 5 lakh as the compensation for the families of the killed persons.

OneIndia News