8-year-old boy killed in leopard attack in Pune’s Junnar; 4th human casualty since Oct

Pune: An eight-year-old boy died in a leopard attack at Pargaon village in Junnar tehsil, about 110 km from Pune, on Monday morning. This was the fourth human casualty in leopard attacks in the Junnar forest division since Oct.

Forest officials said the leopard leapt out of a sugar cane farm, attacked Rohit Babu Kapre and dragged him into a nearby field. An official said Rohit was playing in a field and his parents were working in a nearby onion farm when the animal attacked him, an official said.

Rohit's father, Babu, had come from Roha tehsil in Raigad district to Junnar with his family three months ago in search of work. "On hearing his screams, we ran towards the field and chased the animal into a sugar cane field. We found Rohit in the field with marks of several injuries around his neck. He was dead by then," Babu said.

"I had come to Junnar in search of work in farms. I had no idea that leopard attacks were frequent in this area. It was a mistake to bring my family to Junnar," he said.

Forest officials said Pargaon is located 6km from Pimparkhed village in neighbouring Shirur tehsil, where three people — two of them children — were killed in leopard attacks since Oct. "We are in the process of seeking permission from the office of the principal chief conservator of forest in Nagpur to kill the leopard,?" said a senior official of the Junnar forest division.

Assistant conservator of forest (Junnar) Smita Rajhans told TOI, "We have captured 25 leopards in the past six weeks at Pimparkhed and other villages. We suspect that a new leopard might have found a territory in the village. In such a situation, the animal usually struggles to find food and water sources and becomes aggressive."

During a spot visit on Monday, forest officials found pugmarks of a male leopard. "We activated trap cameras and placed 12 trap cages at vantage locations in the village to capture the animal," said Rajhans.

Monday's incident sparked anger among villagers, who blamed the Junnar forest division and local politicians for their "hollow promises" after the three fatalities at Pimparkhed. "Apart from capturing some leopards from the villages, the authorities have not done anything substantial. Leopard sightings and attacks continue to be frequent," said Kiran Gajare, a resident of Jambut village, close to Pargaon.