The Forest Department today recovered the severed head of a 24-year-old fisherman from Sundarbans East Division under Bagerhat's Sharankhola upazila.

Forest officials suspect that he was mauled by a tiger.

Kazi Muhammad Nurul Karim, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Sundarbans East Division, said they recovered the head of one Shipat Hawlader, of Paschim Rajapur village of the upazila, from Tulatala area in the morning.

The forest official said Shipar illegally entered the Sundarbans last Wednesday for fishing and went missing.

Being informed, the forest department staff and local people started searching for him and recovered his head.

Several tiger pugmarks were found near the spot. The forest official suspected that a tiger attacked the fisherman.

Shipat's face was disfigured but his father identified his son from his clothes, said Md Ikram Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Sharankhola police station.

The head was handed over to his family.

An unnatural death case was filed with the police station, added the OC.