Tiger kills woman, injures 3 in MP's Bandhavgarh reserve; dies during rescue ops

A tiger strayed into a residential area near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, killing one woman and injuring three others before dying during a rescue operation.

A tiger strayed into a residential area near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district early on Sunday, killing a woman and injuring three others before dying during a rescue operation, officials said.

The attack occurred around 3 am in the Kherwa Tola locality of Panpatha village near the reserve, following which angry locals allegedly assaulted a forest ranger and manhandled a woman staffer while protesting against repeated tiger attacks in the area.

Talking to PTI, the reserve's Field Director Anupam Sahay said the tiger entered the village and attacked residents, killing Phool Bai Pal (40) and injuring three others.

He said the animal later entered the victim's house, where it died amid the rescue operation.

''When we darted the big cat to tranquilise it, it remained unresponsive, suggesting it was already dead,'' Sahay said, denying that the tiger died due to a tranquiliser overdose.

A postmortem is being conducted to ascertain the exact cause of death, he added.

The official said angry villagers, protesting repeated tiger attacks in the area, allegedly assaulted forest ranger Prateek Shrivastava, injuring him, and also manhandled a woman forest staffer.

According to villagers, forest officials failed to respond promptly despite repeated calls for help after the tiger entered the locality.

The protest delayed the rescue operation, and officials were allegedly prevented from taking the woman's body for postmortem examination for over two hours.

Sahay said the injured persons would receive free treatment and Rs 500 per day for hospitalisation expenses.

Congress leader and Janpad Panchayat member Roshni Singh Dhurve later reached the village and helped pacify the protesters, sources said.

Police personnel have been deployed in the village as a precautionary measure, officials said.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, in a post on X, announced financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh for the deceased woman's family.

He also directed officials to ensure free treatment and compensation for the injured persons.

In another recent incident of human-animal conflict, four women collecting tendu leaves were killed in a tiger attack in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Friday morning.