According to sources, a man was found killed by a wild animal in Kovaya village of Rajula tehsil around 6 am. A forest department official said the man, Prakash Chandra, was originally from Pithoragadh in Uttarakhand and had been working at a restaurant in Rajula.

A case of accidental death has been registered at Pipavav Marine Police Station. Police inspector of Pipavav Marine Police Station V K Rathod said that the incident happened around 1 am when Chandra was going home with a bag and encountered the pride of lions and attacked. “He was killed by the lions and there is CCTV footage (capturing the incident) from a distance,” Rathod said.

Forest and Environment Minister Arjun Modhwadia in a statement said in a statement, “The news of a youth’s demise in a conflict with a (pride of) lion is deeply distressing. I pay my tributes to the youth (Prakash Chandra) who lost his life in this unfortunate incident and express my heartfelt condolences to the grieving family.”

Modhwadia said, “To ensure that such an incident is not repeated in the future, necessary instructions have been given to increase the number of trackers in the entire area, as well as to intensify round-the-clock monitoring and patrolling.”

“Under normal circumstances, Asiatic lions tend to avoid human conflict, but sometimes due to situational reasons, there is an unexpected change in their behavior, which results in such tragedies. All necessary preventive and effective measures will be taken to maintain a proper balance between the safety of human life and the conservation of wildlife,” he added.