The incident, however, has a few discrepancies. It is highly improbable for somebody accidentally getting shot with his own double-barrel gun. Usually, such accidents take place with handguns which have a small barrel. Further, Ranger A P Yadav has suffered several pallet injuries.

Yadav, an expert from the Sohelwa Tiger Reserve, has been deputed in Kumarganj Forest Range of Faizabad for the last one month to hunt down the maneater which has been on the prowl in the jungles of Faizabad for almost two months now.

On Tuesday morning, when a team was combing the jungle, they were startled by a sudden noise. Thinking it to be a wild animal, in panic Yadav’s gun went off accidentally and the bullet hit him, said Dhramendra Kumar, a forest official. Faizabad District Forest Officer O P Singh echoed the same.

The maneater has, so far, killed five human beings. One of its victims was the guide of a Forest department tracking team. It has also killed and eaten several domestic animals.

The tiger had strayed out of Pilibhit forests in November, traveled over 400 km to the outskirts of Lucknow, then changed direction and gone to Faizabad district.