Ashraful Ghani, 22, was attacked by a leopard in Kherkatabusty, a locality in the Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri, on Sunday night.

Sources said that a few days ago, a leopard had strayed into the area and had been taking cattle and poultry away.

At around 9pm on Sunday, Ashraful was walking home with his friends Nur Alam Hossai and Shahidul Haque when the leopard pounced on him from a bush.

He fell, and the animal mauled him in his hand, abdomen, and back.

He raised an alarm alerting his friends who were a few metres ahead.

They chased the leopard away with sticks.

They rushed Ashraful to the rural hospital in Sulkapara, where he is still under treatment.

The incident led to panic in the area, prompting foresters to lay a cage for the animal.

A team of foresters also visited the hospital.

“We have put up a cage in the area, but the animal has not walked into it so far.
The residents have been alerted, and we have also intensified our patrolling,” said Sajal Kumar Dey, the range officer of Khunia forest range.