A man-eating tiger killed a 45-year-old farmer working near a nature reserve in India, triggering violent protests by villagers who clashed with law enforcement officers.
Vijay Haldar was attacked while working in an agricultural field adjoining the forest in Bihar state. He was unable to escape when the tiger emerged from the trees and killed him on the spot.
Forest department officials arrived at the scene in Bangali Tola village to recover the man's body, which was handed over to a pathologist for examination.
Villagers block road with remains
News of the killing spread quickly across the area, prompting hundreds of angry residents to carry the farmer's remains to the Valmikinagar-Madanpur road. Protesters blocked traffic and displayed the body on the carriageway to demonstrate against an increase in wild animal attacks.
The demonstration escalated into a riot when police arrived. The crowd attacked the responding officers, injuring two forest rangers and a police officer.
Protesters then overturned and smashed a forest department service vehicle. The unrest lasted for about 20 minutes before the crowd retreated following the arrival of reinforcements led by police leadership and a judicial official.
Monsoon season flooding
The death of Haldar marked the third fatal tiger attack in the West Champaran district in the past two weeks. Two other victims, identified as 60-year-old farmer Aklu Yadav and 45-year-old Umaravati Devi, were killed by predators in late July.
The Valmiki Tiger Reserve, where the incidents occurred, is a protected wildlife refuge situated in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.
Reserve director Gaurav Ojha attributed the rise in human-animal conflicts to the region's monsoon season. He explained that flooding across certain areas forces animals to leave their usual habitats, and urged local residents to avoid entering the forest alone.
In a separate incident reported earlier near the reserve, a 65-year-old man also named Aklu Yadav survived a predator attack after a tiger grabbed his leg and attempted to drag him into the forest.
