BETTIAH: A man was killed by a tiger near Sewar-Barwa village, just 1km from the dense Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) forests in West Champaran district on Friday. “The incident took place in the Chiutaha range of VTR,” VTR field director Hem Kant Roy said.
Roy said preliminary reports spoke of the tiger being in the cover of sugarcane fields near the village when the victim, Banka Manjhi (28), had ventured close by to harvest grass fodder for his cattle. “Our teams have reached the spot,” he said.
Meanwhile, Naseem Akhtar, former mukhiya of Gudgudi panchayat under which the deceased’s village lies, said the tiger was apparently prowling close to the village. “Just two days ago, the tiger had killed a goat belonging to one Birbali Manjhi in the same vicinity,” he said.
