A 4-year-old child was playing with his siblings when a leopard suddenly pounced on him in front of his mother on Monday evening. Before his mother could understand what happened, the leopard dragged the child away. Later the body of the child was found in a sugarcane field, officials said. The incident took place in Uttarakhand’s Vidora village under Sitarganj tehsil in US Nagar
“The incident happened around 8 pm on Monday. The child’s body was recovered from a sugarcane field. We have intensified patrolling as well as installed a cage and five camera traps,” said Sandeep Kumar, divisional forest officer (DFO), Terai east forest division Haldwani.
Kumar said Lavjeet in Vidora village under Sitarganj tehsil in US Nagar was playing with his siblings in his courtyard while his mother, Babli Kaur, was working on Monday evening when a leopard suddenly attacked him. “Before his mother could understand, the big cat disappeared with Lavjeet. Babli Kaur raised alarm and her neighbours ran towards the big cat’s direction to rescue the child”, he said.
He said the child’s body was found in a sugarcane field 150 metres away from his house. His relatives took him to the government hospital but the doctors declared him dead.
The DFO said, “The victim’s village is quite far from the forest. Leopard might have come along the rainy nullah. We have provided ₹one lakh as the first instalment of ex-gratia to the family. The remaining amount will be given later. The villagers have been advised not to venture unnecessarily after the sunset and be careful to avoid untoward incidents.”
{{/usCountry}}The DFO said, “The victim’s village is quite far from the forest. Leopard might have come along the rainy nullah. We have provided ₹one lakh as the first instalment of ex-gratia to the family. The remaining amount will be given later. The villagers have been advised not to venture unnecessarily after the sunset and be careful to avoid untoward incidents.”
{{/usCountry}}Earlier an 8-year old girl was killed by a leopard in Bajeti village of Pithoragarh on September 19. Night curfew from 8 pm to 6 am was clamped by the local administration in nearby areas to avoid any mishappening. In Jaspur of US Nagar district, four people, including a woman, were injured in a leopard attack on Sunday.