Shahjahanpur: A 26-year-old man was injured when a tiger attacked him after he allegedly entered a forest area to collect wild mushrooms. The incident happened in Maheshpur range of South Kheri forest division on Thursday evening. The man managed to save himself with a sickle. The big cat fled leaving him injured. He was rushed to the community health centre and later referred to the district hospital, where his condition was reported to be stable.According to Mohammed Basruddin, a farmer of Nayagaon village, near Maheshpur range, he was working in his cane field when a tiger suddenly appeared and attacked him. He claimed that he used his sickle to fend off the attack and the tiger fled.However, divisional forest officer, north, Anil Patel, who met the victim, told TOI, “Initially, we were told that the tiger had attacked the victim in a cane field but no pugmarks of a tiger were found at the spot. Our investigation revealed that the victim had entered the forest area for collecting wild mushrooms when he was attacked. We have stepped up vigil in the area and alerted locals to be careful while working in cane fields.”Villagers have been warned not to enter the forest area, said forest department officials.Meanwhile a WWF-India team met the victim and a compensation was awarded to him.Maheshpur range falls outside Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. The forest department authorities have confirmed the presence of more than one tiger in the area on the basis of images captured by camera traps.Recently, tiger movement has been observed outside the forest. The tiger is reported to have killed a few cattle in Vanbhudeli, Mullahpur, Ghamhaghat and nearby villages.On July 19, a cyclist was attacked by a tiger while he was returning home. On June 18, a 35-year-old farmer was mauled to death by a stray tiger in Devipura beat of Maheshpur range. The local farmers had staged a massive protest against the forest department and had demanded that the tiger be tranquilized.

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