Villagers of Kurubarahalli in Hosadurga taluk of Chitradurga armed with sticks and stones lynched a stray leopard in the presence of Forest officials on Wednesday.
The two-and-a-half years cub had attacked three farmers including a woman at a pomegranate farm belonging to Dinesh.
The Forest department personnel had rushed to the farm to trap the cub. When the operations were underway, a group of villagers pounced on the cub and killed it.
A verbal duel ensued between the villagers and the forest personnel when the latter tried to prevent the mob from lynching the cub.
The leopard cub succumbed to injuries en route to Adumallehswara Zoo in Chitradurga.
In-charge DCF H S Ranganathswamy told DH, “The leopard had hurt its leg and was not in a position to escape from the villagers.
More than 2,000 villagers had gathered at the spot
and so we could not control the crowd.”
Bear rescued
While the hapless leopard fell prey to the mob, a five-year-old bear which had strayed into Koppal city was lucky enough to return to its habitat unscathed.
Fearing for its life, the bear wandered across the city making sure it did not get into the hands of the people.
Police took control of the situation by closing the entry points to residential areas before the Forest personnel from Kamalapur armed with a tranquilliser gun and net managed to catch the bear and took it to Munirabad Forest department office.
The forest officials said, the bear would soon be released into Daroji Bear Sanctuary.