Pilibhit: In more incidents of tiger attack in Pilibhit, a villager was killed while another was badly injured in two different places.Kewal Prasad (55) of Roopur village under Neuria police station was hired by three farmers to guard their agricultural fields adjoining Mala forest range of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve from attacks by wild herbivores. On Friday night, villagers found Kewal’s partially-eaten body in the forest.Kewal was the ninth man to be mauled to death by a tiger since January this year. Since October last year, as many as 12 people have fallen prey to tigers in the district.Divisional forest officer Kailash Prakash did not rule out the possibility that the attack was by an adult male tiger who had earlier been detected with an infected and swollen paw on a hind leg, for which the officer had sought permission to tranquillise and treat the animal. He feared that it might have turned a man-eater due to its inability to chase and kill its natural prey. He confirmed that the tiger had been spotted in the area several times over the past few days.According to the victim’s nephew Har Prasad, Kewal had gone to the fields at around 8 am on Friday but did not return home in the evening. “We decided to search for Kewal in the jungle but despite being informed, the range officer of Mala as well as Bankati forest post did not help in the search,” he added.During the search, Kewal’s mutilated body was found by a group of around 150 villagers from 110-A Dhmela compartment at about 9.30 pm.Speaking to TOI, range officer of Mala Dilip Shrivastav confirmed receiving the information about the missing man at 8 pm but said he had suggested to villagers to initiate the search at dawn on Saturday. “My advice was aimed at protecting the villagers from any attacks of wild animals at night,” he added. But they did not pay heed to his advice and entered the forest, he said.DFO Kailash Prakash said the spot where Kewal Prasad had been killed was around 1km inside from the forest boundary. He alleged that Kewal had entered the forest to collect firewood and that is why he was not eligible for compensation from PTR. However, the WWF has provided Rs 10,000 as relief to Kewal’s family.In another incident, a tiger attacked an agricultural labourer, Gopal Prasad, 55, at Surajpur village under Amaria police station on Saturday morning. Gopal sustained wounds on his neck and head. He has been shifted to the district government hospital. The WWF has assisted the injured with Rs 5,000 as compensation.Witnesses said eight labourers were administering fertilizers to cane crop when Gopal chanced upon the tiger lurking among the stalks. When the tiger attacked him, his son struck the big cat with a bag of fertilizer, forcing the animal to flee.

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