Farmer, 27, killed in tiger attack while harvesting paddy in Sakoli taluka's Bamni village

A young farmer was killed in a tiger attack in Bamni village of Sakoli taluka amid the Diwali and Lakshmi Puja festivities. The deceased, Kunal Kailas Uike, was 27. He was harvesting paddy with his parents in their field. The incident took place at around 1 pm on Sunday, the day of Lakshmi Puja, and has plunged the whole area into mourning.

Kunal had gone to the field at 1 pm with his parents to cut paddy, as he did every day. His parents were harvesting in one paddy plot while Kunal was cutting in another plot nearby. A tiger hiding in the vicinity suddenly pounced on him from behind.

As soon as their son was attacked, the parents ran to save him, but were frightened on seeing the tiger in front of them. Even so, they gathered courage and informed villagers of the incident by mobile phone. On receiving the information, villagers rushed to the spot. By then the tiger had dragged Kunal 200 to 300 feet away.

The villagers who reached the spot tried to drive the tiger off by shouting and using sticks and thorny branches. They finally managed to free Kunal from the tiger's grip, but he had by then been severely injured in the attack. The villagers took him to Lakhani for treatment without delay. As his condition was extremely critical, doctors advised taking him to Bhandara. Kunal died on the way to Bhandara.

Forest department officials and staff reached the spot on receiving news of the incident. The forest team drew up a panchnama at the site and set a cage to capture the tiger. Trap cameras have also been installed to monitor the tiger's movements.

During the paddy harvest, farmers and labourers have to stay in the fields from morning to evening. For cutting, gathering the cut crop, threshing and transport, whole families work together in many places, and small children are also taken along. In such conditions, a wild animal hiding in the bushes can attack suddenly, leaving no chance to react. This incident shows exactly that.