'Man-eating' tiger shot dead in India's Maharashtra

Forest workers say they have shot dead a tiger blamed for killing seven people in the past six months in western India, the BBC reported.

The tiger, described as a "man-eater" by authorities, killed the victims in a forest in Chandrapur in Maharashtra.

This was the third tiger to be shot dead for killing people in the area since 2007, officials said.

There has been a spate of tiger attacks in India recently, with at least 17 people killed this year.

District officials formed three teams to track down the tiger in Chandrapur - home to some 100 tigers - and it was killed on Tuesday evening.

"The growing incidents of man-animal conflict in the area have put a lot of pressure on the [forest] department in the last six months. Considering the safety of people, orders to shoot the animal were issued," Maharashtra forest chief Sarjan Bhagat told BBC Hindi.