A villager near Gurgaon caught a wild leopard by the scruff of its neck and others beat it to death on Thursday after the animal ran loose on the streets of the locality, triggering widespread panic for hours.
The animal was spotted around 8.10am and ran amok for more than three hours on the streets of Mandawar village, 26 kilometres from Gurgaon, local sources said.
The big cat was finally cornered in a hut around 11.45 am, beaten to death in front of police and wildlife officials and its corpse dragged to the main road, they added.
“The animal had its claws round a girl’s neck when a young man grabbed it by its neck and pulled it off her. Other villagers them overpowered the leopard, beat it with sticks and killed it,” a local resident told HT.
Seven villagers were injured in the incident and rushed to the nearby Sohna Civil Hospital.
This is the latest in a string of similar leopard sightings around the hilly region where several such big cats live in the Aravalli ranges.
In September, residents of Sector 51 claimed to have spotted a leopard. In August too, a full-grown leopard was caught on camera trap in the Bandhwari forest.
On Thursday, villagers alleged that police and wildlife officials were inadequately equipped with just one net to capture the leopard and no tranquilliser shots.
“He was beaten to death by villagers despite repeated requests. Some villagers have been injured in the attack.,” said inspector Mukesh Kumar, the station house officer, Sohna police station who was at the spot.
Angry villagers dragged the corpse to the main road a kilometre away as a battery of police and wildlife department officials allegedly remained silent.
“He injured seven villagers. The officials and cops could do nothing,” said a villager Devender Singh.
