Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh), May 25 (IANS): In a second incident within 48 hours, a 30-year-old farmer was mauled to death by a tiger near Majhara railway station in Tikunia forest area of Lakhimpur Kheri district.

The victim Kamlesh Kumar was returning home on his bicycle after working in a cane field in the forest area of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve when a tiger suddenly pounced on him and tried to drag him into the forest.

His friends who were on a bullock cart shouted and threw sticks at the tiger to scare it away. The animal fled leaving behind the fatally injured man.

The friends rushed him to hospital, where he was declared dead. Later, the autopsy report confirmed that Kamlesh died as his windpipe was ruptured.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) North, Sundresh said, "We have warned locals to stay away from the forest area. We are installing motion sensor cameras to monitor movement of tigers. The tiger had not eaten human flesh, and so we cannot term it a man-eater. We are taking steps to avert any human casualty in future."

This is the 18th such incident since 2020 and fifth such incident since October 2021, said officials.

Earlier on Saturday, a 30-year-old man Mahesh of Dumeda village was killed in a tiger attack.