A leopard attacked three tribal villagers and two forest officials who were part of the team that came to rescue them in Umarpada taluka of Surat district. The injured persons were rushed to the hospital and discharged after primary treatment. The leopard, meanwhile, remains to be caught. Forest department sources said the incident occurred at Amli Dabda village on Friday evening when Bipin Vasava and Ramchandra Vasava were working in agricultural fields in the backyard of their house. A leopard emerged from the standing crop of corn and attacked Bipin's face with his paw, they added. When Ramchandra tried to rescue Bipin, the big cat attacked him on his hands, said the Vankal range forest officer. Soon after, other labourers working in the fields gathered at the spot and called other villagers. Together, they surrounded the agricultural fields while sarpanch Ranchhod Vasava intimated the forest department officials. The forest officials laid three cages at different locations. Meanwhile, the leopard attacked another villager, Govind Vasava. The leopard further attacked two forest staffers, Vinod Chaudhary and Natvar Vasava, while they were laying the cages, before escaping into the neighbouring fields, said sources. The injured persons were rushed to Zankhvav Community Health Centre, where they were discharged after primary treatment. Deputy Conservator of Forests Dhiraj Kumar said, “We have installed three cages to catch the leopard. The leopard might have got irritated seeing the large number of villagers who had gheraoed the fields, and in a bid to escape, the big cat might have attacked them. We are putting in all our efforts into catching the leopard.”
