Tiger kills woman in MP's Bandhavgarh reserve area; angry locals assault forest staff

A tiger strayed into a residential area near Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, killing one woman and injuring four others before police deployed security and forest officials rushed to the scene.

A tiger strayed into a residential area near Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh early on Sunday, attacking several people and leaving one woman dead and four others injured, locals claimed.

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

Police security was deployed in the area, officials said.

Villagers accused forest officials of failing to respond promptly despite repeated calls for help and claimed the tiger was still roaming nearby.

A 40-year-old woman was killed and four other persons were injured in the tiger attack, locals claimed.

When contacted, field director Anupam Sahay told PTI the incident occurred in the buffer area of the tiger reserve. The official further said he was rushing to the spot and would be able to provide more information after visiting the scene.

The villagers had encircled the forest staffers, he said.

Angry villagers allegedly assaulted the Panpatha ranger, causing him injuries. A woman ranger was also allegedly manhandled and briefly prevented from leaving the area by villagers protesting against repeated tiger attacks, sources said.

Congress leader and janpad panchayat member Roshni Singh Dhurve reached the village. She tried to pacify the villagers and secured the release of the forest officials.

Forest teams later shifted the injured persons to a hospital for treatment.

There was a ''law and order situation'', and efforts were underway to bring it under control, Panpatha forest sub-divisional officer Bhura Gaikwad told reporters.