Leopard attacks 5 in Jaipur village, captured 6 hours later

JAIPUR: A sub-adult male leopard that attacked five people, including three villagers of Motuka Bas Dhani area in Jaipur district, was captured by a forest department team following a six-hour operation on Thursday.
The captured big cat was brought to the rescue centre at Nahargarh. The leopard had entered the village and attacked the sleeping villagers at 2.30am.The victims included David Meena (10), Sanjana Devi (38) and Ramfool Meena (44).
An official said the leopard first attacked the 10-year-old boy sleeping beside his parents. “His parents were also attacked by the leopard when they came to his rescue. All the victims were rushed to a hospital, and they were discharged after treatment,” he added. The leopard later entered a building of the Apex University, where it injured the guards and the labourers.
To capture the leopard that had been terrorizing villagers for several hours, the forest department formed a team led by senior veterinarian Arvind Mathur, who has so far darted 64 leopards in the wild.
“It was a difficult operation as the leopard went inside the building having many corridors and floors. It was dangerous for our team to enter the building as the beast could have attacked us from anywhere. Later, we saw it climbing up the stairs, and we got the opportunity to dart it,” he said.
Incidents of leopards straying into villages due to a scarcity of water and food are rising in Rajasthan. Panic has gripped locals in several districts in recent days due to the rising number of leopard sightings and attacks. In last three months, several instances of big cats attacking villagers or cattle in Ajmer, Nagaur, Sikar and Udaipur districts have come to light, sparking tensions among the locals.
On Thursday’s incident, a forest official said the sub-adult leopard must have moved out in search of territory after it was chased by an adult leopard. “Leopards also come out of the forest in search of food or water. Since it is monsoon, there is also possibility that this leopard was hungry,” he added.