- A 28-year-old man was killed by a leopard in Bahraich district early Tuesday
- The victim was found mutilated 200 metres from his house in Mehboob Nagar village
- Forest and police teams found leopard pugmarks near the site and sent the body for post-mortem
A 28-year-old man was killed after a leopard dragged him while he was sleeping on a cot in the verandah of his house in Bahraich district early Tuesday, forest officials said.
The incident occurred around 3 am at Mehboob Nagar village under the Kakraha range of the Katarniaghat Wildlife Division, they said.
The victim, Ram Singh, was taken towards the bushes behind the house. When his family found him missing in the morning, they searched the area and found his mutilated body around 200 metres from the house, Divisional Forest Officer Apoorv Dixit said.
Teams from the forest department and police reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem. They also found leopard pugmarks near the site, the officials said.
The forest department has provided an immediate assistance of Rs 10,000 to the affected family and is completing the formalities to provide the government-mandated compensation of Rs 5 lakh, Dixit said.
He said nine leopards had been captured and released into suitable natural habitats in the Katarniaghat area during the past six weeks.
Preparations are complete to install a cage in the affected area, for which permission has been sought from senior officials, the DFO said.
Forest officials have appealed to the villagers to exercise caution at night and not allow children and the elderly to venture out alone.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
