E-Paper
Villagers kill leopard in Raichur district hours after it attacked four
Villagers in Raichur district killed a leopard that injured four people, hindering forest officials' efforts to capture it. Autopsy and legal action to follow.
Villagers in the Devadurga range forest limits of Raichur district killed a leopard on Sunday hours after it injured four villagers, forest officials familiar with the matter said.
One of the officials said the leopard injured a villager while he was going to defecate in the fields in Karadigudda village in the morning. When the villager raised an alarm, three people rushed to his aid and attempted to scare away the big cat. However, the leopard attacked these three villagers, injuring them as well.
The injured people, identified as Ranganath Nayak (30), Papanna Raju (35), N Ramu Gowda (26), and B Nagaraj (28), all residents of Karadigudda, were admitted to Devadurga taluk government hospital for treatment and are currently undergoing medical care.
Upon hearing about the leopard’s presence, hundreds of villagers from Karadigudda and surrounding areas rushed to the site.
Despite notifying the forest department, the villagers began to search for the animal in the forest, armed with sticks and stones, the official said.
Raichur district deputy conservator of forests (DCF) B Praveen said: “The forest officials were informed by villagers around 9:30 am on Sunday about the sighting of the leopard. It first attacked Ranganatha Nayak around 8am.”
“After receiving information about the incident, the Devadurga range forest officer rushed to the spot with a cage and net by 10 am. We even called veterinary doctors and sharpshooters to locate the leopard. However, thousands of people gathered at the spot, thus, hindering our efforts,” he said.
During the search, the leopard reappeared, when the villagers attacked the leopard with sticks and stones, ultimately killing it. Though the forest department staff and police reached the spot soon, they were unable to save the animal due to the number of people attacking it. They tried to control the crowd, including using mild lathi charge but the situation remained chaotic, the official said.
The official said that the forest department had initiated an operation to capture the leopard after the morning attack. However, the animal managed to evade the capture at that time.
“At around 4.30 pm, villagers killed the animal as neither we nor the police could control the mob. We will conduct an autopsy on Monday and initiate action against the people who killed the animal under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The leopard was about 5 years old, male, and there were no reports of leopard menace in the village earlier,” the DCF added.
