Villagers kill leopard

The villagers later took the youth to a nearby cottage hospital and later combed the area. Local foresters leading the search party could trace the pug marks of a full grown animal along with a cub. While the officials were busy carrying out a panchnama of the pug marks, the animal suddenly appeared and attacked Laxman Pawar.

Panicked villagers first lit a hay-stack to intimidate the animal. However, the leopard tried to charge at the mob again. The villagers stoned and thrashed the animal till it was rendered unconscious.

The animal was then tied and brought to the forest office at Junnar, where it succumbed to its injuries in the evening, the report said.

A trap has been planted in the vicinity of the village, in the wake of incidents in the past in which the villagers were attacked by leopards straying to human habitats primarily in search of food.