Officials watch as leopard is killed by villagers in Gurgaon’s Sohna area
Eight injured in three-hour rampage, animal spotted three times in last 10 days, say locals.
A leopard entered the village Mandawar near Sohna on Thursday early morning injuring several villagers before it was killed in Gurgaon. (Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
A “two or three-year-old male leopard” was beaten to death by a mob, armed with sticks, in Mandawar village in Gurgaon’s Sohna area on Thursday morning, after it attacked eight people including an official from the forest department.
According to Dhan Singh, the sarpanch of the village, the leopard was first spotted when it suddenly attacked a resident of the village. Confirming this, 35-year-old Sundar, a farmer, said the incident took place around 8 am. “The leopard must have been hiding in the empty plots in the area. I saw it only when it came right in front of me. I panicked and tried to scare it away by waving my hands,” he said.
The animal, however, became aggressive and attacked him, said Sundar, who sustained injuries to his right shoulder and the upper part of his arm. “I was lucky I had a thick shawl wrapped around my head and the upper part of my body. It worked as a barrier between the animal’s claws and me,” he said.
(Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
Sundar was rescued by passersby, who pelted stones at the leopard, which then ran into a field nearby, said residents.
The forest officials and police were informed soon after, and both arrived at the spot at 9 am. Residents and other bystanders, however, alleged the former were not equipped to handle the situation.
“Only four or five forest department officials came to the spot, and that too only with a net to catch the animal. We asked them where the tranquilisers were, but they just kept saying that they had to be brought from Faridabad and that it would take time,” said Singh.
(Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
While Rambir Singh, the Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Gurgaon, refused to comment on the allegations, another official claimed “25 to 30” personnel from the forest department had rushed to the spot.
“We sent a sufficient part of our staff there, including the district forest officer, three inspectors, and veterinary doctors. They were fully-equipped with tranquilisers, nets, and a cage,” said the official.
(Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
When asked why, despite these preparations, they failed to neutralise the animal, he said, “The problem was that as many as 1,500 villagers, armed with lathis and sticks, gathered by the time we reached… If they had given us space to work, we could have managed the situation better.”
Reiterating this, Mukesh Kumar, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Sushant Lok police station, said: “We sent 15 personnel to the spot as soon as we received information about the first attack, but a crowd had already gathered by the time we reached.”
(Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
He added, “Most people insisted on staying outside their homes to watch despite our requests. The situation got out of hand when the leopard ran deeper inside the village.”
According to Kumar, when forest officials attempted to capture the animal with a net, it escaped. Another resident said, “The animal ran into the village when the officials tried to catch it, and attacked whoever stood in its path.”
(Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
As a result, six others, including an official from the forest department, were injured before the leopard finally wandered into the verandah of a house, where it grabbed the hand of 30-year-old Yogesh, a resident of Mandawar village.
“The leopard caught hold of my hand…I wasn’t able to free my hand and escape, and fell to the ground,” said Yogesh.
Photo by Manoj Kumar
Residents said it was in an attempt to rescue Yogesh that they beat up the animal. “The forest officials were not doing anything to capture the animal, and it was going around attacking residents of the village. We had to take the matter in our own hands to save Yogesh and the rest of us,” said Lalit, who was among those who “rescued” Yogesh.
Sundar was the first person to be mauled by the leopard.
The sarpanch said, “Residents of our own village as well as some from surrounding villages, like Sukhrali, came to either watch what was happening or help tackle the animal. When they saw the authorities were doing nothing and the animal was attacking people mercilessly, they got angry.”
Photo by Manoj Kumar
Even as police and forest officials watched, the animal was beaten to death — three-and-a-half hours after it attacked its first victim.
All eight injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital in Sohna, where they were treated and discharged by afternoon. A forest official, meanwhile, said they had seized the body of the animal.
(Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
“The carcass has been taken into custody and sent for postmortem. Once this has been conducted, due procedure will be followed for its cremation,” said the official.
(Source: Photo by Manoj Kumar)
The sarpanch added that the leopard had been spotted by residents in the area three times over the last 10 days, but no complaints had been made since it was mostly seen in fields far away from the village.
Sightings over the past two years
Nov 14, 2016: A leopard was sighted near Suncity in Gurgaon’s Sector 54. Forest officials were informed but their search for the animal yielded no results.
Sept 3, 2016: Residents of Gurgaon’s Sector 57 claimed to have spotted a leopard, but forest officials’ could not find the animal.
Aug 30, 2016: Forest officials conducted an unsuccessful search operation after residents of Gurgaon’s Sector 57 claimed they had spotted a leopard.
May 8, 2016: Carcass of an adult leopard found near Gairatpur Bas village in Gurgaon’s Manesar. Although officials claimed the animal died a natural death, locals alleged it may have been killed by people residing in one of the three farmhouses in the area.
April 26, 2016: Residents of Manesar’s Sahrawan village claimed they had spotted a female leopard and two cubs near the village. Forest officials were informed of the sighting but failed to find them.
Dec 5, 2015: 3-month-old injured leopard cub found in Gurgaon’s Gairatpur Bas village. Residents alleged it was held captive and injured by one of the three farmhouses in the area, but officials did not confirm this.
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