Leopard 'suspected' of turning man-eater shot dead in Rajasthan's Udaipur

Jaipur: A leopard "suspected" of turning man-eater was shot dead on Friday by a joint team of forest department and police in Rajasthan's Udaipur district, an official said.

In Udaipur district, humans were hunted by leopards on September 18, 19, 20, 25, 28 and 30. In the above incidents, the place of attack by leopard were Gram Panchayat Chhali, Bagdunda, Majavad and Madar under the jurisdiction of Deputy Forest Conservator Udaipur (North).

In a fresh attack on Wednesday, the leopard attacked two women who were working in in the field in Madar village of Badgaon. One of the women, who was seriously injured in the leopard attack, died during treatment.

The leopard which was shot dead in Madar area near the city is said to be involved in these attacks.

Divisional Forest Officer Ajay Chittora said that the leopard was an adult male which apparently turned man-eater.

Further confirmation will be done after the sample test report will come out, Chittora added.

The woman that was killed on Wednesday was the eighth person to die in leopard attack since September 18.

Eight victims include four women and a five-year-old child who died due to leopard attacks in various areas of Udaipur.

Concerned over the leopard attack and growing resentment among the locals, the forest authorities placed cages, installed camera traps and sought help from the Indian Army to track the leopard last month. As a result, three leopards were captured from different places.

However, after a 55-year-old woman was mauled to death on October 1 outside her house in Suawaton ka Gudha when she was feeding fodder to livestock, authorities issued an order to shoot down the animal.

The permission was granted under conditions that an attempt should be made to tranquilise or trap the leopard. However, in case the animal cannot be tranquilised or trapped, its correct identification should be ensured before killing the animal.