According to forest officials, a tiger attacked two bike-riding guys on Sunday and carried one of them deep into the forests close to the Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand’s Almora district.
Afsarul, 25, of the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, and his buddy Mohammad Anas were returning home from Almora on Saturday night when the incident occurred, according to Virendra Pandey, the forest beat officer for Mohan.
According to Pandey, “a tiger hidden in the bushes attacked them as they reached Mohan region of Kosi range under Ramnagar forest division and dragged Afsarul into neighbouring jungles,” adding that Anas went to the Mohan police outpost to warn the authorities.
“Corbett staff members and the head of the Ramnagar police station, Arun Saini, hurried to the scene with the police. To find Afsarul, a search was launched, the speaker stated. “Blood traces were discovered near the scene. The man was led by the tiger toward the Kosi river.
After the event, bikers have been urged to exercise caution on the roadway, according to Pandey, who also noted that local patrols have been stepped up.
According to Chandrashekhar Joshi, divisional forest officer, Ramnagar, three teams of the forest department are looking for Afsarul, and three JCB machines have been deployed to clear a path through the dense forest. “There are camera traps placed up nearby. The teams have not been successful in finding the man yet.
The man and the tiger have yet to be found by the teams, he said.
Anas recalled the experience and stated that because it was dark, he was unable to see the tiger at first because it was hiding. It suddenly pounced on us out of nowhere. I briefly struggled to comprehend what had happened, he said. “The tiger seized Afsarul and pulled him into the woods. I managed to drive to the police station despite my disbelief and let them know what had happened.
Soon after the occurrence, locals from the surrounding villages including Harish Rawat, a senior Congress leader and the former chief minister of Uttarakhand, blocked the national highway via Mohan for a while. The tiger ought to be captured right away, Rawat advised the forest department.
“This is the second such event, and the residents are very upset. Four tigers are in the region, and the locals are feeling quite unsafe, said Rawat, who added that after speaking with senior officers he instructed the villagers to break the blockage.
The Corbett Tiger Reserve, one of 50 reserves in India, has the highest tiger density, with 14 tigers residing in every 100 square kilometres, according to the most recent tiger census.
