NASHIK: A 10-year-old boy on Thursday sustained serious injuries in a leopard attack in Dhule’s Moghan village.
The village where the attack took place is around 14 km from the villages where two other minors were attacked and killed by a leopard recently.
In the latest incident, the child was playing outside his home in a cotton farm when the leopard pounced on him. The boy’s mother, who was inside the house, and some workers from neighbouring farms came to the boy’s rescue.
“The leopard attacked the boy and dragged him for a few metres. The animal, however, fled after the workers rushed to the child’s aid. The boy was taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH),” Gyarsil Dudve, the boy’s uncle , said.
The boy has sustained injuries around the neck and has undergone surgery at the hospital. According to doctors, the next 24 hours are critical.
This is the third attack on children by leopards in the past four days.
Nitin Singh, deputy conservator of forest (Dhule), said, “We have deployed a team of 50 forest personnel along with 20 trap cameras, five cages and a drone to trace the leopard that seems to have become a man-eater.”
“It is likely that the same leopard attacked all the three children. We have sought permission from the wildlife department in Nagpur to tranquilise the big cat. We have got reports of leopard sightings in Moghan village and are doing everything we can to catch the animal,” said Singh.
When contacted, Ajit Pathak, medical superintendent of the Shri Bhausaheb Hire GMCH in Dhule, said the boy has been moved to the surgical intensive care unit after the surgery.
