A leopard killing a human in the Ekeshwar block of Pauri district after a gap of three months has raised the level of fear among the residents of Mankot village. Of the five human deaths in leopard attack reported in Garhwal this year, four had taken place in Ekeshwar block before this latest kill.
According to Garhwal divisional forest office Rajmani Pandey, the leopard had killed 75-year old woman Jhabari Devi late on Monday night. Her partially eaten body was found about half a kilometre from her home. The villagers said that Jhabri Devi used to live alone in the home while her son is employed in Kotdwar. The leopard lifted her when she came to freshen up.
The villagers came to know of the incident when they saw blood on the spot and on searching for her they found her partially eaten body. Pandey told The Pioneer that a request has been sent to the chief wildlife warden for declaring the leopard a man-eater. A department team and a hunter have been posted at the site of the last kill.