Leopard kills toddler in Nashik; body recovered after 17 hours

A two-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in Nashik while playing outside his home. His body was found 17 hours later, 1.5 km away.

Pune: In a tragic incident, two-year-old Shrutik Gangadhar was killed in a leopard attack on Wednesday night. The child, who was playing in front of his house near a defence colony at Vadner Gate on the outskirts of Nashik, was dragged away by the leopard into dense grass around 9 pm.

Two-year-old was killed in leopard attack on the outskirts of Nashik on Wednesday night. (Getty Images (PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))

A search operation was launched soon after, involving forest officials, personnel from the Artillery Centre, the police department, and the Nashik team of RESQ Charitable Trust. After 17 hours of search, the boy’s body was found around 2.45 pm on Thursday, nearly 1.5 km from the spot where he was taken.

“The greenery in the area is fully grown, and the muddy terrain posed serious challenges during the search,” said Abhijit Mahale, in charge of RESQ’s Nashik team.