Chandrapur: A three-and-a-half-year-old tigress was killed after being hit by a speeding truck on National Highway-6 near Gadegaon forest depot in Bhandara district on Tuesday evening.The incident occurred around 6.50pm in front of the Gadegaon timber depot, close to the Ashok Leyland factory. The highway forms a boundary between the Koka Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhandara territorial forest. The tigress, believed to be a litter of the well-known Koka tigress, was crossing the highway when the speeding truck knocked her down.The impact killed the tigress on the spot. The truck driver fled from the scene along with the vehicle. A couple of eyewitnesses reportedly saw the truck hit the tigress and informed the forest department.Forest officials rushed to the spot after receiving information and secured the carcass before shifting it for postmortem. The examination is likely to be conducted on Wednesday to ascertain the exact cause of death and document other details as per wildlife protocols.
