A 65-year-old woman was killed in a suspected attack by a Royal Bengal tiger in a village close to the Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary in Odisha’s Nuapada district bordering Chhattisgarh on Sunday night.

The woman, a resident of Jalamadei village which is part of the sanctuary, was attacked by the tiger when she had gone out to collect firewood behind her house.

Many trees were uprooted by a gale that lashed the area on Sunday. It had also rained heavily.

The woman went out of her thatched house to fetch firewood in the evening but she had no idea that the tiger was lurking in the bushes behind her house.

The beast pounced upon her and dragged her into the nearby forest.

Local forest ranger Siba Prasad Khamari told reporters: “In this case, the Royal Bengal tiger seemed to be hungry and when it found an easy prey in the darkness it immediately attacked her and took her away. It killed the woman and ate her body parts. We have recovered the mutilated body of the deceased Sanamati Barik.”

Khamari said, “Hearing the screams of the woman, her family members and relatives immediately rushed to the spot but by that time the tiger had already dragged her into the forest. They later found her body.”

On being asked why he thinks it was a Royal Bengal tiger and not a leopard, Khamari said: “A leopard takes its prey to a distance and keeps it for a few hours and watches whether any suspicious objects are around it or not. Once it is sure that everything is fine it eats its prey comfortably. But a Royal Bengal tiger after taking its prey eats it immediately. Besides, we have found the paw marks which clearly show that it was a royal Bengal tiger.”

However, the forest department tried to downplay the issue in the evening. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wild Life) S.K. Popli told The Telegraph: “There was a lot of confusion. We are not sure whether the woman was killed by a leopard or a tiger. There was a movement of a leopard with two cubs in the area.

“There was tigers’ presence in the nearby area adjoining Chhattisgarh. It’s too early to comment. We are examining the paw marks.”

Sources said the department has warned the local forest ranger, who went to the spot for inquiry, saying it was a Royal Bengal tiger, not to make any comments. Spread over an area of 600 sq km the Sunabeda sanctuary is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

“A number of leopards and Royal Bengal tigers have been spotted in the forest. The process is on to declare it as a tiger reserve. “Once an announcement is made, a decision will be taken on relocating the villages living on the periphery and in the core area of the sanctuary,” said a senior official of the forest department.