Three attacked by leopard near Gurugram

GURUGRAM: More than a fortnight after a big cat strayed into Mandawar village in Sohna and injured eight people, another leopard attack has been reported — this time from a village in Narnaul, some 120 km from Gurgaon. The leopard attacked three people near a canal in Mandhana village on Monday. However, the forest department was this time successful in shooing away the big cat to the green.
In fact, the leopard was first spotted by a villager in a mustard field around 3.30 pm, who raised an alarm.Soon, several villagers gathered there and started pelting stones at the animal. The leopard got scared and while trying to escape into the forests after forest officials reached the spot, it attacked three persons near the village pond, who sustained minor scratches on their hands. They were rushed to a government hospital and discharged after preliminary treatment.
“We also got information about leopard sighting around 3.30 pm, while leopard had strayed into the field an hour back. Before a forest team could reach the spot, people had gathered there and decided to deal with the situation themselves. Some people started pelting stones at the leopard. Thankfully, a team of forest officials reached on time and managed to send the leopard back to the forest area,” said an official from the forest range office of Narnaul.
“The attack could have been easily averted if villagers had shown some patience and vacated the spot,” a forest guard told TOI.
Villagers, on the other hand, alleged the forest officials reached the spot late “and so we were left with no other option than to do something to get rid of the leopard”. “We couldn’t risk our lives and thus tried to send the leopard back to the forest area,” said Vikram, a villager whose nephew was attacked by the leopard.
“As leopard sightings have increased in the area, we have formed five special teams, with three members in each team. The teams will be deployed in Gurgaon, Rewari, Mahendergarh and Palwal. We have also alerted the forests guards in these areas,” said an official of the wildlife department, requesting anonymity.
Some villagers informed that apart from the forest officers, they have also started ‘thikri pehra’ (community watch) to keep an eye on the movement of leopards in the village.
Located some 120 kilometers from Gurgaon, Mandhana village is very close to a forest area. With a population of nearly 3,500 people, the village is situated close to the Haryana-Rajasthan border, about 130 km from Sariska National Park.