A farmer died in Beed’s Ashti tehsil after entering a forest area to collect fodder, with injuries indicating a suspected tiger attack and local residents demanding that the animal be captured, according to forest officials and a report by Mid-Day. The Maharashtra Forest Department has provided an initial compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the deceased farmer’s family, while further formalities are under way.
The deceased was identified as Devidas Takale, a resident of Ashti. He had gone into the forest to collect grass for his cattle but did not return home. His son later went looking for him and alerted villagers after finding a sickle and blood marks near the search area. A group of villagers and authorities followed the blood trail and located Takale’s body inside the forest.
Forest officials said the injuries on the body were consistent with a suspected tiger attack. The incident has intensified demands from local residents for the capture of the tiger, which the department has been tracking for nearly two years after it travelled from Yavatmal to parts of Marathwada.
Amol Mundhe, range forest officer of Ashti Range, told Mid-Day that the tiger had remained elusive and generally avoided human settlements and people. “It is really unfortunate that one person may have died in a negative human-tiger interaction,” Mundhe said, adding that preliminary observations suggested the encounter may have been accidental rather than a predatory attack.
Mundhe said no part of the victim’s body had been eaten when officials reached the site. Forest officials also said the tiger appeared healthy and had been hunting horses and cattle in the area. They said there were no earlier records of the animal charging at or attacking humans during its presence in the region.
The department’s assessment has not eased concern among residents, who remain focused on the immediate safety risks of entering forest areas for routine livelihood needs such as collecting fodder. The incident also places attention on how wildlife authorities respond when large carnivores move across landscapes that include farms, cattle-grazing areas and villages.
The tiger, known as Ramling, was born to tigress T22 in Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Yavatmal, southwest of Nagpur, in 2022. About two years later, it travelled approximately 500 km to reach Solapur district in southeastern Maharashtra. Reports of cattle attacks in Solapur prompted forest officials to install camera traps, which confirmed the tiger’s presence.
The animal was later recorded at Yedshi Ramalinga Wildlife Sanctuary in Dharashiv district, marking the first recorded sighting of a tiger at the sanctuary, according to the report. A camera trap also captured Ramling in Beed on November 2.
Forest officials are continuing to monitor the tiger’s movements. The department’s next steps will determine whether the animal is captured or whether surveillance and field-level precautions remain the immediate response after the suspected human-tiger encounter.
