The incident occurred when the victim, Tinku, was working in his sugarcane field. Farmers in nearby fields heard his cries and rushed to help. The tiger, which had caught Tinku by the neck, dragged him for some distance before releasing him. Soon after the incident, angry villagers blocked the road and held a demonstration.

This was the second attack by a big cat in the area in the last one month. On January 4, another resident of Tanda village, Pillu Singh, was killed. Forest officials suspect the same tiger was involved in both the incidents.

Division Forest Officer of South Kheri, R C Jha, said: “We are matching the pugmarks found from both the spots.” According to Forest department officials, around noon, the police informed them that a tiger had attacked a youth in Dheera Range. A team of forest officials rushed to the site and found the body lying in the bushes. There were deep injury marks on Tinku’s throat. The department has tightened night patrolling in the area.

Combing operations, meanwhile, to hunt the maneater continued in the jungles of Faizabad on Sunday. Faizabad Superintendent of Police R K S Rathore said, “We have deployed armed personnel in villages with search lights.”