Chandrapur: Two persons — a man and his nephew — were killed in a tiger attack in the forests of Pawanpar under Sindewahi range on Tuesday. The duo had gone out to collect Mahua flowers in the forest when the incident took place.
Official sources said Kamlakar Undirwade (60) and his nephew Durwas Unidrwade (48) had gone into the Pawanpar forest early in the morning. They were busy collecting Mahua flowers in compartment no. 1413 when a tiger attacked and killed both of them.
Forest officials said it is rare that a tiger attacked and killed two people at the same spot. Officials suspect that the beast might have attacked one of the two and other is likely to have gone to his aid, which turned the tiger upon him.
Officials of Sindewahi range rushed to the spot and took the dead bodies for post mortem. They have given ex-gratia aid to families of both the victims and sounded alert in the area, warning people not to venture into the forests.
The incidents of tiger attacks have increased since the onset of Mahua season. Four people have died in the last two months in similar incidents.
This incident has taken the total of human kills in predator attacks this year to 11. Nine of them have been killed in tiger attacks while other two were mauled by leopards.