Villagers of the Debipur-Barshitila village in Ramnagar on Wednesday gheraoed the residence of the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) director in protest against attack on a woman by a leopard on Tuesday evening.
The agitating villagers demanded that the leopard should be killed as it had become difficult for them to move around after the attack. The women among the protesters manhandled the park warden when he was trying to inform them about the action to be taken by the authorities.
The officials concerned of the CTR administration assured the villagers that all possible steps would be taken to catch the leopard. Besides, they also told the agitating villagers that the CTR administration would take care of the treatment of the victim, Bimla who is presently receiving treatment at a hospital in Haldwani.
As Director CTR was out of station on Wednesday, Park Warden S C Upadhyay told The Pioneer that the department has got the permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden to catch the leopard after tranquilising it. “We will tranquilise the big cat and relocate it,” said Upadhyay. “Efforts are on to constitute teams to catch the big cat. At the same time, we have also assured the agitating villagers that the CTR would look after the treatment of the victim who is admitted to a hospital in Haldwani,” he further said.
It may be recalled that the leopard attacked the woman when she was collecting some green fodder from a field close to her residence along with some other women on Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, the aforesaid leopard which was in the nearby bushes, attacked the woman, Bimla. The victim received injury marks around her neck, hands and on back as the reports suggested. However, as soon as the local villagers and CTR officials, came to know about this incident, they took the victim to a nearby hospital.