6-year-old killed in leopard attack in Maharashtra's Sangli ; villagers vandalise forest office

KOLHAPUR: A six-year-old boy, Rajveer Hanmant Patil, from Biur village in Shirala tehsil of Sangli district, was killed in a leopard attack in the Amrutnagar area of Biur on Friday night. Following the incident, villagers vandalised the forest department office in Shirala late on Friday. Officials said the panchnama of the incident spot has not yet been completed, as villagers are not allowing forest personnel to enter Biur village.According to forest department officials and locals, Rajveer and his four-year-old sister, Kartiki, were playing in front of their house when a leopard suddenly attacked Rajveer. Kartiki screamed, alerting the parents and neighbours, but the leopard dragged Rajveer by the neck for about 500 feet into the farm of a local farmer, Shankar Keru Patil.Villagers panicked and began searching for Rajveer. Shankar Patil reportedly saw Rajveer in the leopard’s mouth near a stream. As soon as the torchlight fell on the leopard, it released Rajveer and ran away. The boy was immediately taken to the sub-district hospital at Shirala, but Dr Deepak Bansode declared him brought dead.Rajveer’s father, Hanmant Patil, said: “After the incident, the villagers called the forest department several times, but no one picked up the phone. Leopards are being sighted in the area frequently, but the forest department turned a blind eye to it. We don't want compensation money. Give us our son back. Give us permission to kill the leopards.”Angry villagers went to the forest department office in Bhuikot Fort after staff failed to respond. The mob broke doors and windows and pulled down the iron gate. Police were deployed to control the crowd. Villagers refused to hand over the body until forest department officials arrived later that night.Shirala MLA Satyajit Deshmukh said: “The incident is unfortunate. A show-cause notice will be issued to the forest department officials in this regard. I spoke to Forest Minister Ganesh Naik. I will try to get the concerned forest officials transferred or suspended. The villagers should not take the law into their own hands. Sincere efforts will be made to provide justice to the Patil family.”Meanwhile, at around 11:45 pm on Friday, villagers reportedly saw the leopard return to the site, but it ran away after sensing the commotion. The incident has spread fear among local residents.Forest Ranger Suresh Charaple of the Shirala forest department said: “Our team went to the spot on Saturday morning. The villagers should co-operate in carrying out the panchnama of the incident. The compensation process will be carried out as per procedure. No decision has been taken yet on whether to trap the leopard.”