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Leopard(s) attacks in Bijnor: Big cat(s) claims 13th prey; makes 14th attack on Aug 3
Interestingly, most attacks came when the farmers were out in the fields, collecting fodder for their cattle
The elusive leopard(s) claimed its 13th victim in the villages of Bijnor district, even as it attacked and injured another farmer on Thursday, who is under treatment.
Seventy-year-old farmer, Brahmpal, of village Sikanderpur, became the 13th prey on Wednesday.
Brahmpal had gone to his field on Wednesday morning and returned with a bale of fodder. The weather turned cloudy in the afternoon, and he thought of taking advantage of it and went to the field again for another bale of fodder. But this time he was not so lucky.
The worried family members began searching for him when he didn’t return till evening. They spotted his mutilated body 200m from where he was collecting fodder. The animal had eaten the upper portion of his body.
Angry villagers brought the body to the village and jammed the Hardwar-Kashipur highway. Villagers and leaders along with activists of Bhartiya Kisan Union continued their demonstration on the highway and agreed to end the protest only after they were pacified by the police.
While forest officials and teams searching for the leopard arrived in the village to examine the site of the incident, the animal made another fatal attack on a young farmer Rajkumar of village Anandipur, in Afzalgarh area on Thursday morning.
Rajkumar had gone to collect fodder when the leopard attacked him, and he sustained deep wounds on his waist, foot and hand and is now undergoing treatment.
Meanwhile, BKU began its Guldar Mukt Bijnor (leopard free Bijnor) protest on Thursday inside the DM office premises in Bijnor.
BKU media in-charge Sandeep Tyagi said that they have only two demands: either to kill the leopard(s) or give them freedom to kill them, if the forest department is unable to protect the lives of people.
He said that poor farmers are being killed only for a bale of fodder so that they could feed their cattle. He claimed that most farmers have been killed by leopard(s) when they were collecting fodder for their livestock.
Conservator of forests, Moradabad division, Ramesh Chandra, however, said that villagers are being sensitised about dos and don’ts to protect themselves from attacks of leopards. He said that villagers have been instructed not to go alone to their fields, not to go outside at night, carry sticks while going to the field and many other precautions.
He said four elephants, three veterinary doctors, forest officials and a team of Wildlife Institute of India are searching for the leopards. Many cameras, at least 13 cages and prey have been placed at different locations in the jungle but their efforts are yet to yield results.
