Baripada: A wave of panic and anger gripped the periphery villages of Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Monday after the skeletal remains of a missing man were recovered deep inside the forest.
Terrified local residents allege that a Royal Bengal Tiger killed and devoured the villager.
The deceased has been identified as Sadhu Nayak, a resident of nearby Basantpur village. Nayak went missing after entering the forest to graze his cattle on Sunday. When he failed to return home by evening, anxious villagers searched for him, leading them
to a gruesome scene in Kamalabari area under Dudhiani forest range of Karanjia division.
According to eyewitnesses, very little remained of the victim – mostly bone fragments, skeletal remains, and two severed limbs. A piece of loincloth (lungi) found near the scene helped distraught family members identify the remains as Nayak’s. “The flesh was completely stripped from the body, which is classic predatory behaviour,” a local source familiar with the terrain noted.
Meanwhile, locals are demanding immediate relocation of the roaming tiger to an isolated zone. Villagers claim that over the past few weeks, there has been a steady and alarming rise in cattle lifting and mysterious deaths of domestic livestock in the fringe villages, which they blame entirely on the growing tiger population in Similipal. “We cannot step out of our houses, let alone graze our cattle. If the forest department does not trap and shift this tiger elsewhere, we will intensify our agitation,” warned an angry resident during the protest.
Forest officials, including Regional Conservator of Forests (RCCF) from Baripada and the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Karanjia, rushed to the spot along with staff to defuse the tension.