The leopard which had reportedly killed a seven- year old boy on Wednesday evening in village Sarkayana valla of Kafolsuyn patti in Pauri district has been declared a man-eater.
The forest department has fixed two cages aside from deputing an authorised hunter Joy Hukel on Thursday. However, the big cat has remained elusive so far.
On Wednesday evening , Sumit had gone with his mother to search their cattle near their residence. The mother laxmi had asked Sumit to go back home. When laxmi had returned she found that Sumit had not come back home. A search had been launched by the villagers.
The forest and revenue team had also helped the villagers. They had found a pair of chappal and paijama which belonged to the boy. His half-eaten body had been found on Thursday morning.
The villagers had vented anger over the forest officials not having come to the village when Ranger K C Thapliyal and Pauri Tehsildar Ashish Ghildiyal reached them. The angry villagers demanded Garhwal Division D F O to come. DFO Ramesh Chandra reached the incident spot after four hours in the afternoon.
Chandra said that the leopard has been declared a man- eater by the chief wild life warden on Thursday.
The deceased Sumit was a student of first standard in the primary school at Payasu.
Observers say such attacks by the beasts are frequent as due to migration, the surroundings of the villages are being covered under thick bushes, which are turning shelter of the wild animals, including leopards.
In Sarkayana valla village, for instance, just 15 of 40 families are left residing in the village and mostly, the elderly are left, an observer said.