ROURKELA: A villager reportedly poisoned a juvenile female leopard to death in Tamra range of Sundargarh’s Bonai forest division (BFD), apparently as an act of revenge after his bullock was hunted by the big cat .
The accused, Nuas Xess (61) of Kusumdihi village was arrested on Friday after he confessed to the crime, said forest officials.
Authorities of BFD received information about the death of the leopard inside Khasda forest near Kusumdihi village on Thursday night. On Friday morning, a team led by Bonai divisional forest officer (DFO) Lalit Patra along with veterinary personnel reached the spot for investigation.
Rourkela-based regional chief conservator of forest (RCCF) P Ramasamy informed that the female leopard was less than three years old. Preliminary investigation revealed that a bullock was hunted by the leopard inside Khasda forest earlier this month. In search of his bullock, Xess found its half-eaten carcass in the forest on December 2.
Ramaswamy said knowing that the big cat would return again to eat the remaining meat, the accused villager laced the bullock’s carcass with pesticide. For the next five days, he visited the spot to confirm the leopard’s death. On Thursday, the big cat consumed the poison-laced meat and due to its effect, could not move beyond 20 metre and died.
The RCCF said the accused villager has been detained and is being questioned. After recreation of the crime scene, he would be arrested and produced in court. He said simultaneously, efforts are underway to bury the leopard’s carcass after autopsy following due procedure.
2 women trampled to death by elephants in Sundargarh
Meanwhile, two women were killed in separate elephant attacks in Sundargarh district in the last 24 hours.
Panposh range officer Suchismita Das said one Jasinda Gudia was trampled to death by a wild tusker near Karlakhaman in Lathikata block at around 7 am on Friday. The victim, in her early fifties, was walking towards her workplace when the incident took place.
Das said the elephant was holed up in a bush near Ergeda forest amid morning fog. When the woman arrived, the elephant emerged suddenly and trampled her to death.
Earlier on Thursday afternoon, a woman, identified as Adarmani Bhumij (75), was trampled to death by a tusker on the old NH-143 near Swidihi of Lathikata block. The elephant later moved towards Nuagaon forest.