Chennai, Feb 1 (IANS): A 50-year-old woman was found dead on Wednesday near the Madumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Tamil Nadu.
According to her family and relatives, Maaru had ventured into the forest area in Theppekadu on Tuesday evening for collecting firewood.
When she did not return till late at night, the forest department was informed following which a search operation was launched.
On Wednesday morning, the department officials found her body 200 metres from the Thepekadu elephant camp.
The officials told mediapersons that the body had injury marks likely from a tiger attack, adding that pug marks were also found close by
The body has been sent to the Gudalur Government hospital for post-mortem and the cause of death can only be determined once the report comes in.
The forest department immediately handed over a compensation of Rs 5 lakhs to the victim's family.