GUWAHATI
A tiger killed an armed home guard deployed in the Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve on Wednesday (August 29, 2024) night, Assam Forest Department officials said.
Dhanmoni Deka, the home guard, and casual worker Md Sahajul Haque were patrolling the Bilpar camp area of the tiger reserve in the evening when the tiger pounced on the former.
The home guard’s shriek made Mr. Haque, walking about five metres ahead, turn around. “I saw the tiger dragging him away. There was little I could do with the khukri (knife with a curved blade) in my hand but picked up the rifle that fell from his hand and fired a few shots in the air,” he said.
The patrolling was part of their regular drill.
Officials organised some forest guards and an elephant to trace Deka, who got married about six months ago.. They followed a trail of blood and located his body more than three kilometres deeper inside the 279.83 sq. km. park located about 110 km northeast of Guwahati.
“The tiger was not nearby when we located the body at about 9.15 p.m. The body had teeth marks on the neck and there were no signs to suggest the tiger did anything beyond killing our man,” the park’s Field Director, Pradipta Baruah, told?The Hindu?on Thursday.
He said there are no records of Orang’s tigers having turned man-eaters or preying on livestock in the adjoining villages. “However, we cannot rule out the possibility of this tiger developing a taste for human blood,” he added.
According to the last census released in July 2023, Orang has an estimated 26 tigers. The park is also a major domain of the one-horned rhinoceros.
