Dibrugarh: Two days after a police personnel was mauled to death by a tiger, a sub-adult female tiger was found dead in the Mayodia area of Lower Dibang Valley district in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday.
According to officials, the deceased tiger has been identified as a sub-adult female bearing a gunshot injury.
The discovery of the tiger with a firearm wound has raised serious questions about the circumstances leading to its death, including the possibility of retaliatory killing or other unlawful actions.
Head constable of Arunachal Pradesh Police, Chikseng Manpung, was mauled to death by a tiger on February 2, 2026, in the Mayodia area while he was travelling on his motorcycle.
Manpung, a resident of Manfaiseng village in Namsai district and posted as a radio operator at Roing Police Station, was attacked in the evening hours. His mutilated body was recovered the following day by a joint team of police and forest officials after an extensive search operation.
Following the incident, the Lower Dibang Valley district administration issued public safety advisories restricting night travel, particularly on two-wheelers, along the high-risk stretch due to continued tiger movement in areas close to the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary.
The incident has once again raised questions about the preparedness and effectiveness of the forest department.
“Gunshot injury has been spotted on the tiger. The question is who killed the tiger and why it was killed. First, humans destroyed their habitat and now they have killed the animal. Earlier, such incidents had not occurred in the Mayodia area. Humans are destroying forests, and as a result animals are forced to come out because their habitat has been lost. People should understand this basic fact,” said an environmentalist.
He added, “The forest department has failed completely. Due to their incompetence, a police personnel lost his life, and now the animal has been killed by some miscreant.”
“Till now, nobody knows who killed the police personnel. Everybody suspects the tiger seen in a viral video. A proper investigation should be carried out, and the forest personnel should have tranquillised the big cat. But due to their lackadaisical attitude, the animal was killed by miscreants,” he said.
Forest and police authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the tiger’s death and determine whether it is linked to the earlier fatal attack.
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