Sundari tigress row: Odisha govt transfers concerned DFO

Bhubaneswar: Amid uproar over death of a woman allegedly due to attack by Royal Bengal Tigress ‘Sundari’, the Odisha Government today transferred SMT Rehman, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Satkosia Wildlife Division.

The official had on September 13 informed mediapersons that the tigress will be captured by an expert team by September 15. It had fuelled the speculation regarding relocation of the animal from the Satkosia Tiger Reserve. However, the relocation was later ruled out by Odisha Government.

The tigress had allegedly mauled a 35-year-old woman to death on September 12 when she was taking bath in a pond near the forest. The incident led to violence as the villagers demanded the relocation of the wild cat. Angry over the death, the locals had set afire the forest beat house at Hatibari and the forest department’s range office at Tikarpada. They also torched five boats of the forest department.

Later, the post-mortem report of the deceased woman revealed that the death was due to asphyxia and wounds caused by wild animal bite.

Notably, the 27-month-old Royal Bengal tigress was released into the Satkosia Tiger Reserve on August 17 to increase the population of the big cats in the sanctuary.

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