Jaipur: A man has been killed in a tiger attack at Ranthambore fort in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve area on Monday morning. This is the third killing in tiger attack near this area during last one and a half months. Villagers blocked the Sawai Madhopur-Kundera road after the incident, while the road to Ranthambore's Trinetra Ganesh temple was closed until further orders.
Chief Forest Conservator of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve Anup K R said that due to the movement of a tiger in Ranthambore fort and the entry of devotees was stopped in Trinetra Ganesh temple on Sunday. Some watchmen of the temples were staying in the fort itself. Among these, 3 watchmen were staying in the Jain temple located in Ranthambore fort.
"On Monday morning around 4.30 am, watchman Radheshyam Saini (60) went to defecate at a distance of 30-40 meters from the temple. Meanwhile, the other 2 watchmen heard the sound of Radheshyam screaming. Upon coming outside the temple, they saw blood marks. The body was not visible due to dense forest. They informed the forest department and after a search of around three hours, the body of Radheshyam was recovered from the forest, 'said the officer adding that, however, it is not yet known which tiger attacked but soon the tigers roaming in the fort will be shifted to enclosure.
Tiger's teeth marks have been found on the neck of the deceased sevadar Radheshyam while a part of his body was also missing.
The locals said that Radheshyam was a servant in the Jain temple of Ranthambore fort for about 20 years. Soon after the incident, the family members of the deceased and villagers reached the entrance of Ranthambore and sat on a dharma.
The villagers blocked the Sawai Madhopur-Kundera road at Ganesh Dham and accused the forest officials of negligence. The villagers alleged that the entire focus of the forest officials is on tourism, not on tiger monitoring.
Notably, this is the third death in a tiger attack in this area in the past one and half months.
On April 21, a 7-year-old boy on the way to Trinetra Ganesh temple was killed. The boy was returning with his grandmother after visiting Trinetra Ganesh. Suddenly, a tiger came from the forest and took the child away by holding him in its mouth.
While on May 12, a ranger was killed near Jogi Mahal who was trekking in zone number-3 of Tiger Reserve. The tiger attacked the ranger's neck with its teeth and nails and sat on his dead body for 20 minutes.
All these three attacks have happened within the periphery of 2 km. The place where the boy was attacked is near Ranthambore Fort while the attack on the ranger also took place just below Ranthambore Fort and now the watchman was attacked inside Ranthambore Fort.
Having 84 tigers within the area of 1503.23 kms, the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve is the biggest and the oldest tiger reserves of Rajasthan, but increasing number of big cats here is resulting in territorial fights among them and human - tiger conflicts.
