Lakhimpur Kheri, Apr 23 (IANS): A two-year-old tiger died under mysterious circumstances, a few minutes after it came out of forest area and entered a crop field in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri.

Forest officials suspect the big cat was poisoned and sent the carcass for post-mortem.

Deputy Director DTR (buffer) Sundaresh, said: "Initially we thought that it was poisoned by someone and we searched for a poisoned carcass, but could not find any near to the spot where the tiger died. Since the tiger's death is always a sensitive matter, we registered an FIR and started our investigation."

The autopsy suggested it was nearly 2-years-old, its molar and premolar teeth also confirmed its age.

"After examining the carcass, we found that it was ill and there was no food in the stomach. Also, a sharp bone had punctured the stomach wall and it led to septicaemia which probably caused its death," he said.

A detailed autopsy report is awaited.

Sundaresh said: "We are checking the stripes of the tiger in our database and it is expected that it had migrated either from Kishanpur range or the Mailani range of forests.