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23-yr-old woman killed in leopard attack in Mysuru, alert in B’luru after four big cats spotted
Chief conservator of forests Dr Malathi Priya, and superintendent of police R Chetan held discussions with villagers and persuaded them to take away the body.
The Karnataka forest department issued a shoot-at-sight order against a leopard after the animal killed a woman in Mysuru, officials familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The deceased identified as Meghana, 23, was attacked by the leopard in the backyard of her house on Thursday, said one of the villagers of S Kebbehundi from T Narasipura taluk.
“We were watching TV at 6.30pm when Meghana said that she is going to the backyard to wash clothes. Hearing her screams, we rushed to the spot...she was being attacked by a leopard. When we raised an alarm, the leopard left her and escaped into the forest area,” said her uncle Basavaraju.
The villagers rushed her to T Narasipura taluk hospital but she succumbed to her injuries. Staging a protest outside the hospital, the irate villagers refused to take away the body and demanded ₹50 lakh compensation. “Meghana had completed her graduation in commerce from T Narasipra college and wanted to pursue her master’s degree”, said Basavaraju.
He said the family had filed a complaint with the forest department three months back that a leopard and its cubs were sighted in a sugar cane field near the house. “But the forest officials did not take steps to catch the leopard... instead they advised us to go to that side...had the forest department taken timely action a precious life could have been saved,” he said.
Chief conservator of forests Dr Malathi Priya, and superintendent of police R Chetan held discussions with villagers and persuaded them to take away the body. Later, the forest department officers announced ₹7.5 lakh compensation to the family, ₹2000 monthly pension to the family for five years and a job for a family member on a contract basis.
“The senior forest officers at the state level have given permission to shoot the leopard as the animal killed two people in 30 days. We have launched an operation to catch the leopard,” said Priya. On October 31, a 21-year-old man, Manjunath, was mauled to death by a leopard in T Narsipura Taluk’s ML Hundi village. Manjunath was attacked by the leopard when he and his friends were returning from a temple.
“A 15 member team of experts from Nagarhole, Bandipura and other places have been searching for the leopard since Friday morning. Eight cages have been placed and 10 trap cameras have been fixed to capture the animal. We are using drones also for combing operations,” Priya said.
“T Narasipura RFO has been sent on leave as he did not act in time when the villagers complained of the leopard menace,” the chief conservator of forests said.
In another development, an alert was sounded in Kengeri, Kumbalagodu, Devanahalli and surrounding localities of Bengaluru after locals spotted four leopards in the area. A search is underway in both the cities and the authorities have requested people maintain caution. On Thursday, the authorities had also found the carcass of a deer killed by a leopard in Kodipalya near Kanakapura on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
In Devanahalli, a leopard was seen near Chikkajala on the premises of a private company. A team of five officials from the Karnataka forest department searched the area but the animal remained untraceable.
“The carcass was found near Turahalli forest region, which is adjacent to the Bannerghatta National Park. We have placed a cage there to capture the leopard. Another leopard was also spotted near Chikkajala on the Kempegowda International Airport Road. The leopard was captured in the CCTV cameras,” deputy conservator of forest, Bengaluru urban division, Ravishankar S S said.
A cage has been set up on the premises of a private factory at Tarabanahalli in Devanahalli taluk of Bengaluru rural district, to trap the animal, said an official.
(With inputs from Coovercolly Indresh)
