Excelsior Correspondent
MENDHAR, Aug 27: A full grown leopard killed a minor boy at Bhata Dhurian village in Balakote block, under Gursai Police jurisdiction this afternoon.
A police spokesman said that mishap took place when 8-year old Mohd Abid, son of Mohd Rashid, resident of Bhata Durian had gone to nearby forest with his grandfather. Both of them had also taken their cattle along for grazing. It was around 12.30 pm. The boy was sitting under a tree keeping eye on the cattle while his grandfather was cutting grass at some distance.
Suddenly, a leopard attacked the boy and caught him. The boy cried the wild beast caught him from face and started dragging his prey. The grand father started chasing and also hurled stones on the leopard. As a stone hit the leopard, it left the boy and escaped towards nearby jungle. He raised alarm and some villagers rushed there.
The boy was rushed to Mendhar hospital where he was declared as dead. He had excessive bleeding while being shifted to hospital. This is the fourth such attack by the same leopard in the area. The wild beast had killed at least half a dozen cattle including sheep and goats besides a horse.
After the news of death spread in the area the people got agitated and protested against Wild Life and Forest Department. They said that on earlier occasions also they had approached Wild Life authorities to take cognizance and neutralize the leopard but they did nothing. Later, SDM Romesh Kumar, SHO and SDPO also visited the area and talked to the agitating people. They asked Wild Life staff to act swiftly and neutralize/ capture the leopard. There is panic in the area and the people have stopped coming out during odd hours. The movement of school going children has also been restricted.
Follow our WhatsApp channel