Leopard kills two minor sisters in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district

KARNPRAYAG (UTTARAKHAND): A leopard killed two young girls late on Wednesday in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, sending shockwaves among terrified local villagers amid increasing man-animal conflict in the hill state due to breakneck industrialisation and burgeoning population pressure.

Laxmi, 14, was found dead by her mother inside a cowshed around two kilometres from her village of Partha while the body of her sister, nine-yearold Kavita, was discovered in a nearby jungle, just outside the shed where they had gone to feed domestic animals.

When they didn’t come back till 7pm, the mother went in search of the girls and heard the leopard roar.

“She ran towards the cowshed and was horrified to see the dead body of her elder daughter lying in the cowshed,” said Narendra Singh, a relative.

“A cage has already been installed at the strategic point and a team of experts has also been dispatched,” said NN Pandey, district forest officer of the Badrinath forest division. Officials could only reach the area early on Thursday due to heavy rain in the area.

Residents in three well-populated villages nearby are now scared for their lives as the area is covered in thick forests.

The attack comes barely a week after a man-eating leopard was shot dead in Pauri district after it killed two people. Since 2000, 141 leopards have been declared man-eaters, out of which 32 have been killed.