Horrific: Tiger Attacks Bikers, Drags 25-year-old Youth Into Corbett Forest

In a horrific incident, a tiger attacked two bike-borne men and dragged one of them into nearby forest near the Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand¡¯s Almora district, forest officials said.

The incident occurred on Saturday night when 25-year-old Afsarul, a resident of Uttar Pradesh¡¯s Amroha district, along with his friend Mohammad Anas, were returning to their village via Ramnagar. They are both residents of Jeehal village under Saidnangali police station area in Amroha.

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What happened

They were both returning from Nainital when the the incident took place in Mohana Chowki at around 8.30 pm. While Anas managed to escape the attack, his friend Bhura got dragged by the big cat into the jungle.

¡°When they reached Mohan area of Kosi range under Ramnagar forest division, a tiger hiding in the bushes attacked them and dragged Afsarul into nearby forests,¡± Virendra Pandey, forest beat officer, Mohan said, adding that Anas approached Mohan police outpost and alert the officials.

"The tiger suddenly attacked us while we were on our way and our vehicle lost balance and we both fell to the ground. I moved to the other side but I saw that the tiger had grabbed him and dragged him inside the jungle," Anas told The Times of India.

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Investigation is on

Police said they found a bag and a blood-stained mobile phone lying 50 meters away from national highway 309. Mohana Chowki incharge, Rajendra Singh said the cops haven¡¯t been able to trace the victim yet and the search operation is on.

After the incident, bike riders have been asked to be alert on the highway, Pandey said, adding that patrolling has been intensified in the area. Three teams of the forest department are searching for Afsarul and three JCB machines have been being used to make way in the dense forest, said Chandrashekhar Joshi, divisional forest officer, Ramnagar.

Recent incidents

This is the third such incident to have been reported recently. The first incident was on June 15, when a bike-borne labourer was killed in a tiger attack. This was followed by a third strike, on June 17 when two bike-borne forest personnel were attacked by the tiger, killing one and seriously injuring the other. Ever since forest officials are continuing their attempts to tranquillise and cage the tiger which is blamed for the killings.

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According to the last tiger census, Corbett Tiger Reserve has the highest tiger density among India¡¯s 50 reserves, with 14 tigers living in each 100 sq km area.

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