Uttar Pradesh: Sigh of relief for Pilibhit as forest department cages big cat that mauled to death 6

Furious villagers tried to burn alive the tiger after the team of forest officers managed to extract it from nearby sugarcane fields.

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Uttar Pradesh: Sigh of relief for Pilibhit as forest department cages big cat that mauled to death 6
The killer tiger of Pilibhit was tranquilised before being taken to the Lucknow zoo.

In Short

  • Locals snatched the keys of the mini-truck brought in to take the tiger away.
  • The rescue team braved villagers raining stones and sugarcane sticks on them.
  • The tiger attacked and injured one of the 'rescue operation' elephants.

The terror reign of the killer Pilibhit tiger in Uttar Pradesh, 'Mallu,' finally came to an end on Saturday afternoon, but not before the hungry feline devoured a sixth villager in Kalinagar town, roughly 15km from the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.

Fifty-year-old watchman Gangaram's body was found sans a leg and head on Saturday morning.

Furious villagers tried to burn alive the tiger after a huge team of forest officers - many of them brought in from Lucknow - managed to extract it from nearby sugarcane fields. Locals even snatched the keys of the mini-truck brought in to take the tiger away.

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UP principal chief conservator of forest (Wildlife) Umendra Sharma, deputy ranger Arif Jamal and WTI's Dr Prem Chandra Pandey and Dr Utkarsh Shukla also braved villagers raining stones and sugarcane sticks on them. Around 4 pm, they could finally drive away with the tiger to the Lucknow Zoo.

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"After we got to know that it had claimed its sixth victim, we began following its pugmarks and reached a place called Navadiya Sukhdaspur. The tiger put up a huge struggle. It first attacked and injured one of our 'rescue operation' elephants, Gangakali. Then we called for two more elephants to corner it," said PCCF Umendra Sharma said.

"The cat fled again and hid in adjoining fields. After few hours, our men managed to shoot it with a darter, with a tranquilising gun.

"We waited for half-an-hour before it lost consciousness and became immobile. We somehow loaded it in the cage to be transported away," he said.

JCBs were also deployed to clear the fields to be able to clearly see it, another official said. "After four months, we have heaved a sigh of relief," he added.

The two-year-old feline had killed five persons in villages around the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve since November 28. It had also tried to drag away an old woman sleeping in her porch a few days back.

This time, after going hungry for two days, she killed the watchman in a crowded kasba (hamlet) of Kalinagar near Madhotanda Police Station.

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