Pilibhit:
A tiger, who has been roaming the Purunpur area of Pilibhit for the past two months, has claimed its third victim in the region in less than a month. The latest casualty is an elderly woman. With the villagers protesting the methods employed by the experts' team to nab the animal, the quest to nab the animal has so far yielded no results.
Sumitra, 65, a resident of Ruiyan village in Puranpur area, fell prey to the animal when she went out to the fields on Wednesday. When she failed to return by evening, the villagers launched a search and came upon her half-eaten body lying in cane field near Madho Tanda road on Thursday.
Lakhan, a 65-year-old farmer from Khamariya, was also killed by the tiger on Wednesday morning. His body was also found in a cane field.
The same day, an attack on another elderly man, Chhote, near Jatpura village was foiled when the tiger fled away after the villagers caused a din. Chhote was badly injured in the attack.
After the first death on August 21 when the tiger had killed an elderly woman, Phoolmati, forest officials had called in a team of experts from Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to tranquilize and capture the animal. However, the team could not carry out the operation as the farmers protested against the use of elephants in the cane fields.
The killings have led to angry protests by the villagers against the forest officials. They held demonstrations on Madho Tanda road on Wednesday.
Villagers suspended the protests after getting assurance that the tiger will be captured soon. Pilibhit Sub-divisional Officer R P Yadav said the tranquilising team was visiting the area to trace the location of the tiger and plan the strategy of tranquilising operation.