Within about 24 hours of a young girl being killed by a leopard in Silla-Brahmingaon area of Agastyamuni block in Rudraprayag district, the big cat was shot dead by hunter Joy Hukil authorised by the department to kill the leopard declared a man-eater.
The girl, aged about two years was sitting in the courtyard of her home on Saturday night when she was picked up by a leopard and killed. Local resident and Panchayat member Sawan Negi informed the forest department about the incident.
Action was taken at the departmental level to declare the leopard as a man-eater. The villagers traced the girl and recovered her body at some distance. After that the forest
department called three hunters on the demand of the people to kill the leopard.
The leopard revisited the village on Sunday night and was shot by Hukil. The injured leopard then also tried to attack the forest department employees after which the leopard was shot again resulting in its death.
