RUDRAPRAYAG/NAINITAL: A 5-year-old boy and an elderly woman were killed in separate leopard attack incidents in Uttarakhand, police said on Wednesday.
In Sindravani village of Rudraprayag district, a leopard snatched a child playing in his courtyard on Tuesday afternoon and dragged him into the forest.
Upon receiving the information, teams from the district administration and the forest department reached the spot and launched a search for the child.
Rudraprayag Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sohan Singh Saini, who led the search operation, said that seven teams conducted a continuous search, after which the child's mutilated body was recovered from the forest at 11 pm.
The child was identified as Daksh Bisht, and the body was sent for post-mortem.
Saini said that in view of the potential threat from the leopard, cages will be set up at various locations and a forest department team will continuously patrol the area.
Meanwhile, the Rudraprayag district administration has declared a holiday for the next two days in eight schools in the area for the safety of the children.
In another incident, a 60-year-old woman was killed in a leopard attack in the Juna Estate area of Bhimtal in Nainital district.
Officials said that Ganga Devi had gone to the forest to collect fodder for her cattle on Monday, but did not return till late evening.
Following this, the villagers started searching for her.
The woman's body was recovered from deep inside the forest on Tuesday morning, bearing clear signs of a leopard attack, officials said.
The villagers alleged that leopard activity has been observed in the area for quite some time, but the forest department has not yet taken any concrete steps to catch it.
They demanded that cages be set up in the area.
Nathuwakhan Forest Range Officer Vijay Bhatt said that as soon as the information about the incident was received, teams from the forest department and the police reached the spot.
He said that patrolling has been intensified in the area and efforts are being made to catch the leopard.