Kolkata: A fisherman was dragged away by a tiger in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Monday. The incident has taken place three weeks after two women were killed in separate tiger attacks.
A resident of Rajatjubli in Gosaba, Arjun Mandal, 45, was dragged away from a boat where he was preparing his lunch, said forest officials.
This was the tenth attack in the Sunderbans since December 2018. Sunderbans is home of the Royal Bengal Tiger.
As per the report released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the number of tigers has increased from 76 in 2014 to 88 in 2019 in Sunderbans.
A senior forest official said the search was on but no body has been recovered.
According to locals and forest officials, Mandal went to Pirakhali that is a part of the core forest area on Friday (July 26) to catch fish. He was accompanied by two villagers Dhruba Mandal and Paritosh Mridha, Hindustan Times reported.
Mandal and Mridha couldn’t save him and informed the forest officials. A senior forest official said all three of them had permission to enter the core area of the forest for fishing.
The Sundarbans is crisscrossed by rivers and narrow creeks -- often not more than 15-20 feet wide -- hosting a lot of fish and crabs. Those who go to catch fish in these creeks often come under predatory attacks.
Usually, the tigers attack fishermen who step on the land. Sometimes, tigers also jump on the boats where the channels are narrow.
Fishing, collection of honey and firewood is the primary source of income for the inhabitants of Sunderbans.
