THE family of a North-East nature lover who was shot in the back as he sketched wildlife in India have been told he may have been killed over money.

Illustrator David Green, 53, was found dead in a forest by a tourist late on Thursday night in the northern town of Orchha, in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

It was still unclear last night whether he had been murdered or shot by accident, but Indian newspapers have reported that his bag was missing when his body was found.

Mr Green's sister-in-law, Anne, said: "All we know really is that a sniper came and shot David in the back and that he would have been dead in seconds.

"The consulate has spoken to the police in India and now think there may have been some issue about money, so it's very conflicting at the moment."

Mr Green, a well-known illustrator of wildlife in his home town of Darlington, had been going to the small Indian town every other year for the past seven years, spending three months at a time sketching the flora and fauna.

He went to India in November and was expected to return home at the end of February.

Last night, his friends and family spoke of their shock at the death of the quiet conservationist.

His 85-year-old mother, Edna, who lived with Mr Green in Knightsbridge Avenue, learned of her son's death when she was contacted by an Australian backpacker at 5am on Friday.

She said: "It was a dreadful shock. He would never hurt a fly. I only hope and pray he did not feel anything.

"When you are older the last thing you want is anything to happen to them before you."

Mrs Green said she last spoke to her son a week ago when he telephoned her. She said he liked Orchha, known for its medieval palaces and temples, because it was a quiet place and he could sketch in peace.

She spoke of how her son had loved India and its people and was never worried about the potential dangers he could face, despite running into trouble on a previous trip.

Mrs Green said: "The first time he went to India he had a gun pointed at his head, but he never thought bad of the Indians because there is less trouble there than there is here.

"He had his travellers' cheques and his camera taken but that didn't stop him going back."

Mr Green's brother, Michael, 56, from Abbingdon, in Cambridgeshire, said David had always been a free-spirit who loved animals and nature, particularly frogs, toads and newts.

"David didn't have any great value for money or possessions," he said. "He lived very simply, but was very generous with what he had."

Mr Green illustrated a column in The Northern Echo in the early 1980s as well as illustrating North-East conservationist David Bellamy's Backyard Safari book.

Paying tribute to Mr Green, Mr Bellamy described him as one of the country's best wildlife illustrators.

"He was a wonderful educator of natural history and an amazing artist, not to mention one of the friendliest people I have ever known," he said. "I just cannot believe he was murdered, he was such a nice bloke."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the reason for his death was still being investigated.

His family are hoping his body will be flown home this week.

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