An atmosphere of fear reigns in New Terry, Uttarakhand, due to the emergence of man-eating leopards. Two days after a 13-year-old girl was killed by a man-eating leopard in Bilangana district, all schools have been closed for safety reasons.
Officials said a forest department team is camping in the area to look for the leopard, but it has not been caught by the “shooters” yet. Around 4:30 pm on Saturday, a girl named Sakshi came out of her home in Kot Meher village to play. He said the leopard, which was lying in wait in the bushes, pounced on him.
Hearing her screams, the girl’s neighbors ran to her rescue and started making loud noises to scare away the animals. Officials said the leopard dragged the girl about 50 meters and fled into the forest, where she died. Kot Meher village chief Surekha Ghanta said the “man-eating” leopard killed a 9-year-old girl in Bhond village on July 22 and a 3-year-old boy in Purwal village on September 29.
District forest officer Puneet Tomar, who has been camping in the village along with the forest department team since Sunday, said efforts are on to locate the leopard through drone cameras.
Meanwhile, Tehri district magistrate Mayur Dixit declared a three-day holiday for Bhaud village, Purwal village primary school, Anthwal village primary and high school and Anganwadi center due to security reasons. Half-year exams in these schools have been postponed.
Apart from this, the forest department has also made arrangements to ensure the safety of children studying in remote schools. Rented vehicles were used for their journey. Tomar said that the forest department has deposited Rs 2 lakh compensation into the account of the victim’s family. Range officer Ashish Nautiyal said adequate lighting arrangements had been made to capture the leopard.
