Leopard beaten to death by villagers

The forest department officials have lodged an FIR against three residents of the village — Laxmi,Sukai and Kanhai — who are presently absconding.

The leopard had strayed into the cowshed in the village area late on Friday night in search of a prey. While in the first attempt,it was chased out of the village,it returned once again later in the night. This time,the three accused present in the cowshed beat the leopard till the time the animal died.

“The FIR was lodged today,” said V P Shrivasata,Additional SP of Bahraich. According to the postmortem report,a senior forest department official,“While all its organs were intact,it had a severely damaged upper neck bone and the right rib was ruptured. Such injuries take place on being hit with a sharp object.”

“At this age,when the leopard is separated from its mother,it is difficult for the leopard to hunt its prey. So,in search of an easy prey,it must have strayed into the village area,” added the official.