Man-eater tiger shot dead near Kerala-TN border

Kalpetta: The elusive tiger which killed a woman estate worker few days ago was Wednesday shot dead in a joint operation by Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu and Kerala Forest departments and police personnel of both states in Penna forest area, some 80 km from here.

The joint operation to kill the carnivore gained momentum after the villagers at Pattavayal ransacked a forest department office and burnt three jeeps, injuring three women constables, after the woman was mauled to death by the feline on February 14.

Forest department officials said the armed force from Kerala with shoot orders following the killing of a man a fortnight ago in their jurisdiction, assisted the 50 member Tamil Nadu STF and state police in the operations, which began two days ago.

They sighted the tiger this morning in Penna, cordoned off around two km area and manged to fire first bullet at the target around 3.30 PM, forest department sources said.

Once the tiger fell to the ground, some more bullets were pumped in to ensure it was dead, they said.

The 'man eater' appeared to be 10 to 11 years old, they said.