Mob in Uttarakhand village burns captured leopard alive

Pandey said the leopard’s body was taken into possession by forest officials and was sent for post-mortem.

Days after a woman was killed by a leopard in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, irate villagers on Tuesday burnt alive a leopard captured by forest officials, people aware of the matter said. Nityanand Pandey, Garhwal region conservator of forests (CF) said a woman was killed by a leopard in Saplodi village on May 15, following which forest officials placed a cage there to catch the animal.

Mob in Uttarakhand village burns captured leopard alive. (Pic for representation)

“On Tuesday morning, the forest officials got information that a leopard had been caught in the cage. But when they went there, the angry villagers had already burnt the leopard alive,” Pandey said.

It was not immediately clear whether the leopard killed was the same as the one involved in the fatal attack on May 15.

Pandey said the leopard’s body was taken into possession by forest officials and was sent for post-mortem.

“After the post-mortem result is received, we will lodge an FIR against the villagers who took law and order into their own hands,” he said.