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| An injured being treated at dhubri civil hospital on tuesday. telegraph pictureour correspondent |
Dhubri, Feb. 5: Villagers lynched a full-grown male leopard, which strayed into Bishondoi village and injured three persons today.
Thirty-two-year-old Jiten Roy — wounded in his chest and both hands — said around 10.30am, he and another victim, Haren Roy, heard the cries of Gopal Roy. They ran to help Gopal, 38, and spotted the leopard attacking him.
“Gopal was severely wounded by the time we reached. He was making a futile attempt to save himself with his bare hands. We used bamboo sticks and tried to scare the leopard away and managed to separate him from Gopal,” Roy said.
Pandemonium followed as hundreds of villagers came out with bamboo sticks, swords and axes. They attacked the leopard and beat him to death, said the villagers who accompanied the injured to Dhubri civil hospital.
Villagers said they saw another leopard on the fringes of the village. Forest officials were informed of this development.
A doctor at Dhubri civil hospital said Gopal’s condition was critical. A forest official engaged to look after the wounded, said Gopal needed four bottles of blood.
The leopard might have strayed into the village either from Rupshi or Guma under Parbatjhara forest division of BTAD where at least 18 leopards were reportedly recorded, the official said.
Director of Nature’s Friend, Kulodhar Das, who visited the spot said villagers had spotted another leopard, which was probably female, moving around in the vicinity of the village.Dhubri divisional forest officer Mohibul Ahmed said he was taking all possible steps to arrange proper treatment for the injured. “I am going to Bishondoi village with forest officials. The police have been called to recover the leopard’s carcass,” Ahmed said.
After a post-mortem, the carcass will be cremated, he said.
Asked about presence of another leopard, Ahmed said he had heard of it but could not confirm anything.
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