LEOPARD KILLS MAN IN PAURI GARHWAL

DEHRADUN: A 55-year-old man was killed in a leopard attack in Kotdwar area of Pauri Garhwal district late on Saturday night while he was returning from wedding, officials said.

“The man was coming back from a wedding in Chaubattakhal area of Kotdwar when the leopard attacked him. The incident came to light on Sunday when locals found the body and informed the forest officials there.

We have set up a cage in the area to capture the leopard,” said Laxman Rawat, divisional forest officer, Pauri.

Earlier this month, a 55-yearold woman was killed by a leopard in Tehri Garhwal district on January 9. On January 10, a man’s body was found near the BHEL campus in Haridwar district, wherein forest officials suspected that he was killed by a leopard.

Akash Verma, divisional forest officer of Haridwar had then said that this is the third incident of leopard attack since November in the same campus, and that it could be because of improper waste disposal in the township, attracting animals for easy food.

“These incidents are mostly reported from a confined area near the BHEL factory. The entire stretch is covered in a green belt and BHEL is adjacent to the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and there are residential colonies also from where these incidents are reported. Waste disposal from these colonies is done near the park boundary, attracting herbivores. When herbivores are present, it naturally attracts their predators,” said Verma.

Over last two months, three women and a man have been killed in leopard attacks in Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal districts.