A man working as a ‘tracker’ for Gujarat Forest department died after a tranquilizer dart aimed at a lioness during a rescue operation in Amreli district hit him, a senior official said on Monday.

Chief Conservator of Forest (Junagadh Wildlife Division) Ram Ratan Nala identified the deceased as Ashraf Chauhan.

“During an operation to sedate and cage a lioness that had killed a 4-year-old boy on Sunday, a tranquilizer dart fired by the rescue team accidentally struck ‘tracker’ Chauhan, who was standing at some distance. He was rushed to a hospital in Visavadar and then to Junagadh civil hospital where he died at 7am today,” Nala told reporters.

The lioness had killed the 4-year-old boy, belonging to a farm labourer’s family, near Nani Monpari village in Amreli’s Visavadar taluka, which is close to Gir forest.

Chauhan was working as a ‘tracker’ and was hired by the department on contractual basis, the CCF informed.