Guwahati, Aug 30 (PTI) Assam Forest and Environment Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said on Friday that the process of identifying the tiger which had killed a forest guard in Orang National Park recently is on, and the animal will be transferred to a zoo if needed.
Making a statement on the incident in the assembly, he said the family of the deceased guard, Dhanmoni Deka, has been paid ex-gratia of Rs 6 lakh as per rules.
The department is also determined to help them on humanitarian grounds, he said, while replying to Congress MLA Jakir Hussain Sikdar’s demand for a statement on the matter.
Patowary said Deka, along with another guard, was on duty at the Balipara anti-poaching camp on Thursday when a Royal Bengal Tiger attacked them and dragged Deka away.
“The incident happened around 5.15 pm. As it was getting dark, Deka could not be rescued immediately. His body was finally spotted at around 9.15 pm by our team. Our team had fired two rounds also,” he said.
The body was sent for post-mortem examination at the Mangaldai Civil Hospital, and the report is awaited, he added.
“There were injury marks on the neck and leg, and we are waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain if the tiger had taken a bite of the flesh too. If the report says so, the tiger will be identified and taken to a zoo,” the minister said.
AGP legislator Pradip Hazarika raised concern over the tiger turning into a ‘man-eater’, to which the minister said that the order to trace it and transfer to the zoo has been given to avoid such a situation. PTI SSG SBN SSG SBN
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