7-year-old boy mauled to death by leopard in Surat
The forest department officials started a search and rescue operation and also placed two cages near the incident spot.
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The leopard was meanwhile taken to the Mandvi forest office. (File Photo)A seven-year-old boy was allegedly mauled to death by a leopard in Surat district Monday night, said forest department officials, adding that the animal was caught on Tuesday morning.
The victim, identified as Ajay Valvi, was playing outside when he was attacked by the big cat, said the officials.
According to the information shared by the Surat district forest department officials, for the last few days, a group of farm labourers from Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district had been working in agricultural fields in Ushker village of Mandvi taluka. The officials said that the labourers used to stay in the temporary tents put up in the same fields after work.
One of the labourers, Sangita — also the victim’s mother — was also staying with the group. On Monday night, the boy was playing outside while his mother was taking a nap in the tent. Meanwhile, a leopard from the nearby sugarcane fields attacked Valvi and dragged him to a nearby area. On hearing the boy’s screams, all the labourers gathered and started looking for the boy, however, to no avail.
The labourers informed the Ushker village residents who alerted the forest department and Mandvi police officials about the incident.
The forest department officials started a search and rescue operation and also placed two cages near the incident spot.
Later, the leopard was caught and the boy’s mauled body was also recovered Tuesday morning from a nearby field by forest officials. The body was sent to the government hospital for post-mortem examination Tuesday.
The leopard was meanwhile taken to the Mandvi forest office.
Deputy conservator of forest, Mandvi range, Anand Kumar said, “The leopard caught hold of the minor from his neck before dragging him away. The big cat then mauled the boy.”
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