Man killed in tiger attack in Chandrapur; three missing cubs rescued

Chandrapur: A 60-year-old man was killed in a tiger attack in Bramhapuri in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Sunday, a forest department official said.

Vinayak Jambhule of Chichkheda village was mauled to death by the big cat in compartment 1003 of the North Forest Range here when he had gone to collect 'mahua' flowers, the official said.

"Panchnama of the spot is complete and the body has been sent for post mortem. His kin have been given Rs 25,000 as immediate financial assistance," the official said.

Meanwhile, three tiger cubs that went missing near Uma river here have been spotted and caged successfully in Mul tehsil in the early hours of Sunday, he said.

"These cubs belong to a tigress that has killed three persons earlier. It was captured on the night of April 9. However, at the time, these three cubs were nowhere to be seen, after which teams began looking for them in Mul and Saoli ranges. We used 50 camera traps and drones as well AI in the operation for the cubs," the official said.

These teams checked every bit of the areas near Uma river, Chitegaon and Maregaon for the past several days, he said.

"After they were spotted, the three were tranquilised by our shooter Ajay Marathe. The cubs are in fine health and have been shifted to the TTC (Transit Treatment Centre) here," the official said.

In another incident, three farmers watering a paddy field were attacked by a leopard in Nandgaon (Jani) village on Saturday. Onam Soundarkar (18), Prafulla Sahare (27) and Devendra Pilare(37) have been hospitalised, the official said.