Tiger, suspected to have killed a boy rescued in Mysuru

The Forest department personnel have rescued an eight-year-old male tiger, by tranquilising it, in H D Kote taluk, Mysuru district, on Tuesday night.

It is suspected that it might be the same tiger that had killed an eight-year-old boy Charan Nayak, at Kallahatti village, coming under Metikuppe wildlife range, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve limits, on September 4, when he was with his parents on the field.

Charan Nayak, son of Krishna Nayak of Kallatti village, is the boy who was killed in the tiger attack. He was with his parents, working in the agricultural fields, when the tiger pounced and dragged him away. The body of the boy was found in a bush, at a little distance. This had created panic among the residents of the surrounding villages. The tiger had also killed livestock in the surrounding villages.

Following the incident, the Forest department had placed cages at several places to trap the killer tiger. Dasara elephant Arjuna, Maharashtra Bheema from Maththigodu camp and Ashwaththama from Bheemankatte camp were used for the combing operation. A tiger was rescued on Tuesday.

The department officials had placed 10 cages, fixed 30 trap cameras near the place of the incident, where it killed the boy. They had also used one thermal drone and one normal drone to trace the tiger, which remained elusive for almost 15 days.

Metikuppa Range Forest Officer K N Harishit, ACF Rangaswamy and other officials took part in the operation. The tiger was darted by DRFO Ranjit, under the guidance of veterinarian Dr Ramesh.

However, Metikuppe Range Forest Officer K N Harshit said that it is not possible to immediately identify that the tiger was the one that killed the boy. It can be confirmed after several examinations, he said.