WAYANAD: The locals heaved a sigh of relief after finding the tiger that killed a woman in Pancharakolly dead. The officials of the forest department found the tiger dead near the house of Rijo of Pilakkad, early Monday morning.

'We were annoyed by the disturbance of elephants and buffalos in the forest area adjacent to our house in the past. This is the first time a tiger has come out of the forest. The forest department reached the house in the morning and informed us about the death of the tiger. They had told us not to shoot a video of the tiger. We have fully cooperated with the forest department. The fear that we had for some time has gone away,' said Rijo.

The people of Pancharakolly are relieved to have found the man-eating tiger dead. Some are distributing sweets to the locals and officials and bursting crackers. Dr Arun Zakaria and his team found the tigress dead while chasing it since the previous night. Deep old wounds were found on its body. Similarly, it has been confirmed that the dead was a seven-year-old female tigress. The tigress has been shifted to the Wildlife Veterinary Hospital in Kuppadi for postmortem. It is reported that the postmortem process is progressing at the hospital. Forest Minister A K Saseendran has also responded. His response was that he can now sleep peacefully and that the worries that lasted for days have come to an end.