Residents protest at Kerala's Wayanad as man killed in 'suspected' tiger attack

Wayanad: Residents protested at Kalpetta region here on Sunday where a 36-year-old man was found dead in a suspected tiger attack.

Vakeri resident Prajeesh's half-eaten body was found near a forest area here on Saturday where he is suspected to have been dragged by the tiger when he went to collect grass for his cattle.

Locals alleged that it was a 'man-eater' tiger and demanded the authorities to shoot and kill the animal. However, the forest officials are yet to take a decision on that.

The Chief Conservator of Forests has issued orders to tranquilise the animal in order to cage it.

Currently, two teams of forest officials are searching for the animal.

Meanwhile, locals told the media today that the animal was a man-eater as it came back on Saturday night to the same place where Prajeesh's body was earlier found.

"It's a man-eater tiger. Yesterday, hundreds of people walked through this area where his body was found. But today, we can see its pug marks. As neighbours, our demand is to shoot and kill this man-eater tiger," a local resident told a TV channel.

As Prajeesh did not return even after several hours on Saturday, his brother went searching for him and found the body in a nearby forest region.

The locals, led by political leaders, including MLA I C Balakrishnan, former MLA C K Saseendran, among others staged a protest seeking to declare the tiger a man-eater, shoot and kill it.

Meanwhile, a senior forest official told PTI that there are three tigers in the locality as per their reports.

"However, the tiger responsible for this death is not yet identified. All we have is a blurry photo. Hope the government will take a decision soon," the official said.

Earlier this year, a 50-year-old man lost his life in a tiger attack.

In August 2017, the Kerala government informed the assembly that according to a tiger census conducted at the Periyar and Parambikulam Tiger Reserves in the state, there was a confirmed presence of 58 big cats in these reserves in 2016.