MANANTHAVADY: The tiger that mauled a woman when she had gone to pluck coffee at Pancharakolly in Mananthavady, Wayanad will be shot dead. Forest Minister A K Saseendran informed that the tiger will be killed soon. The order will be issued soon by the chief wild life warden.

Radha (45), wife of Achappan, a watcher of the forest department, died in the tiger attack near Priyadarshini Estate around 10 am. Locals said that after killing Radha, the tiger dragged her for about 100 meters. The body was half-eaten.

The locals strongly protested against Minister O R Kelu, who reached the spot. The minister's attempts to conciliate the protesters failed initially. The locals again raised their demand to the minister that the vegetation in the area be cut and fencing be done. The locals demanded that the tiger be captured in a cage or shot and until then they will not release the body of Radha. A scuffle broke out between the police and the locals when they refused to release the body.

Minister O R Kelu said that he understands the public sentiment and that the fencing work will be done tomorrow and that immediate assistance will be provided to the family of Radha. The minister announced that the RRT team will be deployed in the area today itself. The tiger attack was at a private person's coffee plantation near the forest. There was no presence of the tiger in the area in the past few days. Therefore, the incident was completely unexpected, said district panchayat president Shamshad Marakkar.