Leopard picks up child from outside house in New Tehri, body found in bushes

New Tehri: A man-eating leopard killed a three-year-old child after picking him up from outside his house here while he was playing with his cousins, with officials saying his mutilated body was found in bushes nearby.

The officials said the incident happened at Purwal village around 5 pm when Ankit Kumar's son Raj Kumar was playing in the courtyard of the house with his maternal uncle's children.

Bhilangana Range Officer of Tehri Forest Division Ashish Nautiyal and Purwal village head Sanjay Tiwari said the child stepped out while playing and went behind the house where a leopard was already sitting in ambush.

The animal picked up the child and dragged him away.

Not finding her son around in the house, Manju Devi started searching for him. Later, her neighbours also gathered there, but the child could not be found.

Meanwhile, somebody noticed blood stains on the road behind the house.

The blood stains led people to the bushes from where the child's mutilated body was recovered, the officials said.