Mysuru, Oct. 27 – A 54-year-old man, who was grazing his cattle was killed when a tiger attacked him at Bennegere village, near Mulluru in Saragur taluk yesterday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Rajashekar, a resident of Bennegere village and fear-gripped villagers have demanded the officials concerned to control the menace by wild animals.

There is a wild growth of bushes on hundreds of acres of land from Odeyanapura and Kudurehundi Halla near Bennegere village, close to Mulluru village, bordering Bandipur Tiger Reserve till Nugu River, making it a perfect shelter for wild animals. These wild animals frequently raid the villages in forest borders, killing and carrying away domesticated animals.

Yesterday morning, when Rajashekar was grazing his cattle in his field, the tiger, which was hiding among the bushes, pounced on him, struck him on the face with its claws and bit him on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Rajashekar’s house-help Naga, who saw the tiger attacking Rajashekar, began to scream, resulting in the tiger leaving Rajashekar and running towards Naga. When the tiger closed-in on Naga, he began to run to save his life and the tiger fled towards the forest.

Meanwhile, villagers, who heard about the tiger attack, rushed to the spot, but Rajashekar, who had sustained serious injuries on his face, food and wind pipe, had breathed his last by then.

Second tiger attack

This in the second tiger attack in a span of 10 days in Saragur region, which has caused tensed moments in the region.

Meanwhile, Forest officials, who arrived at the spot under the protection of Saragur Police, tried to convince the villagers and MLA Anil Chikkamadu, who too reached the spot held talks with the villagers.

The villagers told the MLA that the menace of wild animals was frequent in villages bordering the forest besides stating that the wild animals were killing their livestock causing a lot of problems to them. They urged the MLA to take steps to control wild animals straying out of the forests and killing people and domesticated animals.

The villagers also demanded compensation be paid to the family of Rajashekar and also a job in the Forest Department to one of his two children. In his reply, Anil Chikkamadu assured that he would get Rs. 20 lakh compensation from the State Government and also a job to one of deceased Rajashekar’s family member in the Forest Department, following which the villagers allowed the body to be shifted to MMC&RI mortuary in Mysuru for post-mortem.

Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director S. Prabhakar, who was present at the spot, assured of providing all facilities from the Forest Department. Mysuru Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Paramesh and other Forest officials were present.

It may be recalled that on Oct. 17, a tiger attacked one Mahadevegowda at Badagalapura, seriously injuring him on his face resulting in him losing vision on one of his eyes.

Mahadevegowda, who is undergoing treatment at Apollo BGS Hospital in Mysuru is said to be recovering.

Meanwhile, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, who had participated in a programme at Saragur and returned to Bengaluru, received information about the tiger killing a man in Saragur region, has condoled the death of Rajashekar.

The Minister will be holding a meeting with senior Forest officials at the Office of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director this afternoon.

Forest Minister gheraoed

Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre was gheraoed by the villagers and relatives of deceased Rajashekar, when he arrived at MMC&RI mortuary in Mysuru this morning.

As soon as the Minister arrived, villagers, representatives of various farmer organisations and the family members and relatives of the deceased surrounded him and questioned him about the measures being taken to curb the menace of wild animals in villages bordering forests.

They told the Minister that people were living in fear even during daytime and agricultural activities had come to a standstill due to fear of tiger attacks, which had taken place twice in Saragur region recently.

They also submitted a memorandum urging the Forest Minister to protect them from wild animals attack.