COIMBATORE: A 38-year-old tribal man was killed in a suspected leopard or tiger attack in the forest area near Ooty on Thursday.

The deceased was identified by the forest department as M Kendhar Kuttan from Kollakodumund, a tribal hamlet in Governor Shola, had gone in search of his cattle in the forest area on Wednesday, as they did not return to their sheds for long.

“As he too didn’t return, the family members and relatives went in search at night, but couldn’t find him anywhere. They resumed the search on Thursday morning and were shocked to find his partially missing body in the forest area,” said a forest department staff.

It is suspected that the carnivore had consumed his body, which was retrieved and sent for a postmortem at Ooty Government Hospital.

This is the second incident in a fortnight as a woman who went missing recently while plucking tea leaves in an estate near Ooty was also killed in an attack by a carnivore.