A leopard allegedly dragged a boy out of a hut and killed him in Bhundani village, some 20 km east of Khambha town in Amreli district in the wee hours on Wednesday. Arjun Nayak, father of 18-month-old boy Vihut told Khambha police that a leopard entered their agricultural farm at around 12 am on Wednesday when the family was asleep inside the hut. The big cat dragged the baby boy, who was sleeping by the side of his mother and took him into a nearby cotton plantation. The family searched for the boy but to no avail. Nayak, who works as a farm labourer, informed the farm owner, who in turn contacted forest officers in the morning. "Pug-marks proved that the wild animal which attacked the family was a leopard. The pug-marks also led us to the body of the boy. The big cat had eaten most parts of the boy's body and only skull and bones of arms were left," Jenti Malvi, in-charge range forest officer (RFO) of Khambha told The Indian Express. The farm is around five kilometres away from Raydi-Pati forest in Tulsishyam range of Gir east forests, officers said. Police took parts of the boy's body to hospital for post-mortem. "The farm-labourers could have thrown residue of non-vegetarian food near their hut and that could have drawn the carnivore there. We have placed three cages near the spot of the incident to nab the man-eater leopard. We have also prepared documents to award Rs 1.5 lakh compensation to the kin of the victim," the FRO further said. Police said the labourer family belonged to Lunavada taluka of the Panchmahals district and that they were tribal. They had been working as labourers on Suhagiya's field for the last nine months. Khambha police have registered a case of accidental death and started further investigation.
