Tiger attacks in Chandrapur district killed two men and seriously injured a cattle herder on Friday, taking the reported human-wildlife conflict death toll in the district to 39 this year and prompting fresh concern in villages bordering forest areas.
In Sindewahi taluka, 75-year-old farmer Patru Ramaji Meshram of Dhumankheda village was killed after he went to inspect his paddy crop at around 2pm. When he did not return by evening, family members and villagers searched for him and found his spectacles, walking stick, footwear and bloodstains in the field. Forest officials were alerted and began a search operation.
Meshram’s body was later found near the village primary health centre. Preliminary suspicion was that a tiger attacked him in the field, dragged him away and killed him. His body was shifted to Sindewahi rural hospital for postmortem examination.
The incident was reported as the third consecutive fatal tiger attack in Sindewahi taluka within a week. The latest attack has intensified fear among residents of forest-fringe villages, with local people questioning whether existing preventive measures are adequate. The report said residents have demanded immediate intervention to prevent further loss of life.
A second fatal attack took place in the Chimur forest range. Sadashiv Chirkata Khadsang, 55, a resident of Gardapar village, was killed at about 1.30pm in compartment No. 380 under the Gadgaon beat. He had entered the forest adjoining his agricultural field when a tiger attacked and killed him on the spot. Forest officials shifted his body to Chimur rural hospital for postmortem.
The successive incidents have increased pressure on the forest department to monitor tiger movement and restrict risks in areas where farming, cattle grazing and forest habitat overlap. The report said camera traps have been installed to track movement, while residents of surrounding villages have been cautioned.
A third incident was recorded in Pombhurna taluka, where 60-year-old cattle herder Rajeshwar Bija Sidam was seriously injured in a tiger attack in compartment No. 436 of the Satara Tukum forest area. Sidam had taken his cattle for grazing when a tiger reportedly lying in ambush attacked him.
Forest personnel and members of the Gondwana Andolan took Sidam to Chandrapur District General Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment. The incidents place renewed focus on the risks faced by residents whose livelihoods require daily access to farms, grazing areas and forest-edge land.
Forest officials are continuing camera-trap monitoring and have cautioned residents in the affected villages. Postmortem examinations and further field surveillance are the next documented steps in the response.
