Demanding action to effectively address the threat to people posed by a leopard in the area a couple of days after one woman was killed by a big cat, the women of Baudkhatta and Bindukhatta area staged a protest and blocked the lalkuan gate of Gaula river for about three hours on Sunday. later, in response to the protesting women, the Terai east divisional forst officer and local MlA reached the protest site and assured the locals that the problem would be addressed within 20 days.
The protesting women relented after receiving the assurance and cleared the exit gate after which trucks carrying minor minerals quarried from the Gaula could be transported out.
At about 11 AM on Sunday, a large number of women from villages near the Gaula river in Bindukhatta reached the exit gate at lalkuan and blocking it, staged a protest demonstration against the authorities.
Raising slogans against the forest deparment, the protesters demanded that the leopard responsible for the human kill should be captured.
After the protesters blocked the exit gate for more than two hours the local MlA Navin Dumka and Tera east divisional forest officer Nitish Mani Tripathi reached the protest site to talk to the agitated locals. The protesting women said that during the past two months, at least three people had been killed by leopard in the Bindukhatta area. However, the forest department has so far failed to capture the big cat responsible for killing the humans.
Instead, the department staff is advising the people to avoid going to the jungle whereas the people have been living and moving in the jungles of Gaula without major problems with the wildlife for about 100 years.
The protesters further said that such is the terror of the man-eater leopard in the area that children are feeling scared going to the school and even the villagers are feeling hesitant to move about freely outdoors.
They warned that they would initiate an agitation if the authorities fail to capture the leopard soon.
The divisional forest officer said that he had written to the higher authorities seeking permission to install cage in the jungle in an attempt to capture the leopard. In the meanwhile, camera traps have been placed in the area to identify the big cat and monitor its movements.
Further, the hair recovered from the site has been sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for DNA analysis in order to identify the leopard. After receiving assurance from the DFO and local MlA, the protesters cleared the exit gate. They also submitted a memorandum to the DFO on the occasion.