Gudalur: A 58-year-old farmer was killed in a suspected tiger attack near Gudalur in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district on Saturday night.

The deceased has been identified as Balakrishnan, son of Maruthay, a resident of the Loringston Plantation Division under the O’Valley forest range.

According to the Forest Department, Balakrishnan went to a field on a nearby hillock around 8 pm on Saturday to operate an irrigation system. When he failed to return home, his family contacted relatives but did not venture out to search for him at night due to the presence of wild animals in the area.

A search involving Forest Department personnel and local residents began around 7 am on Sunday. After an extensive search, Balakrishnan’s body was found in an abandoned coffee plantation. The body had been partially devoured, prompting suspicion of a wild animal attack.

Forest officials and wildlife experts who examined the site concluded that the injuries were consistent with a tiger attack.

The Forest Department will provide immediate relief of ₹50,000 to the family. The Tamil Nadu government recently increased the compensation for human deaths in wildlife attacks from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.

Following the incident, the Forest Department intensified search and surveillance operations in the area. Forest personnel and Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) have been deployed, while dense and bushy stretches of the Manjushree plantation are being combed.

Drones, CCTV cameras and live camera traps have been deployed at strategic locations to track the animal and determine whether it remains in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, hundreds of villagers staged a road blockade, protesting the shifting of Balakrishnan’s body without adequate assurances on measures to protect residents from further wildlife attacks. The protest was called off after senior officials assured them that steps would be taken to capture the animal or, if necessary, eliminate it.

Balakrishnan’s body was shifted to the Government Taluk Hospital in Gudalur around noon for post-mortem. It is expected to be handed over to his relatives on Sunday evening after the procedures.

A large police contingent has also been deployed in the area to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incidents.