KOLKATA: Two fishermen, who had gone fishing deep in the Sunderbans were mauled to death by tigers on Thursday. Their bodies are yet to be recovered. While one of them had gone in a group of five and had set out from home on Monday, the other was part of a father-son duo that had set out on Thursday morning. Victims Bapi Mondal, 35, and Ajit Dhali were from Gosaba's Sonagaon and Jharkhali respectively.
Bapi had had gone fishing with his neighbours Bapi Maji, Sanatan Mondal, Khagendranath Mondal and others. Residents of Gosaba's Sonagaon, they had gone to the Panchamukhani river that flows by the Panchamukhani forest — a prime tiger zone — for fishing. Ajit, on the other hand, had gone fishing with his father to Storekhali jungle.
Since Monday, the haul of Bapi's group had been satisfactory and the group had decided to start early on Thursday, too. The group had retired early on Wednesday and started cooking their morning meal early on of Thursday. While two of were cooking, Bapi Mondal and Sanatan were trying to push the boat into the nearby creek.
"Bapi was on the other side and I couldn't see him. Suddenly there was a roar and I looked up to see that the tiger had already nabbed him. It had bitten into his neck and was pulling him away into the forest. By the time we collected our wits and ran after the tiger, it was nowhere in sight," a trembling Sanatan said.
The assistant field director of Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR), Anjan Guha said, "The group had a valid permit to go fishing. We fear that the tiger has moved deep into the jungle. The nature of this part of the forest is such that many tigers come to feast on a prey. We'll launch a search but it might be difficult to trace the body."
