Has Almora’s man-eating leopard been slain?

Almora: A leopard was killed by a villager in the Chaukhutiya block of Almora district late on Friday night after the animal allegedly attacked him while he was returning from a wedding. Forest officials, however, are doubtful whether it is the same man-eating leopard that had killed two men over the past 10 days. On Friday past midnight, Nandan Singh Mehta, a resident of Chaukodi village in Chaukhutiya block shot dead a leopard near Ghugholi with his licensed rifle when it attacked him while he was returning from a wedding with two other persons Ghugholi is seven km from Chiteli village, where a maneating the leopard killed a man three days back.
SR Prajapati, divisional forest officer, Almora, told TOI that he was yet to confirm if the slain leopard was the man-eating big cat that has killed two men in the area within a span of 10 days. “Nandan Singh shot down the leopard in self-defence. However, from the post-mortem of the leopard, we were unable to confirm if it is the same man-eating big cat. Its stomach was completely empty, and we couldn’t find any human remnants there.”
Nevertheless, the shooters will continue to remain in the area and look for the leopard for the next 10 days. “Whether the slain leopard is the same will be confirmed only if there are no untoward incidents over the next few days. There are many leopards in this area. If it is alive, the man-eating feline will continue to prowl in the area in search of prey. If such incidents don’t occur, we can confirm that the leopard is killed. We will then remove the shooters with the consent of villagers. The villagers are still scared and can’t rest in peace right now,” added Prajapati.
Earlier, a leopard killed a man at Mahelchaura village on the night of February 8, while he was on his way from the market to home. Parts of his body were found strewn in the jungle a day later. Soon after, a shooter was appointed to kill the big cat. A cage was also installed with a prey inside to trap the animal. However, the leopard eluded capture but was caught on CCTV camera.
Again on February 17, the leopard dragged another man from the courtyard of his house at Chiteli village, four km from Mahelchura village, from his house.