Bahraich: A leopard, which injured five villagers on Thursday in Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, was captured by experts in an operation that lasted five hours, an official from the forest department said.
After a health checkup of the leopard, it has been released in the Trans Gerua area of the Katarniaghat forest.
According to the villagers, a leopard attacked Rita Devi (35) and seriously injured her on Thursday morning in Chahalwa village under the Katarniya Range of the sanctuary.
When Rita raised an alarm, the villagers rushed to chase the wild cat away but instead of running away, it attacked them, injuring Sanjay, Lal Bahadur, Sahdev and Santosh.
As more people gathered, the leopard entered the house of a villager and Laxman and hid under a bed.
“A Leopard strayed out in Chahalwa village and injured 5 people. It has been successfully rescued after a five-hour-long rescue operation resulting in no human casualty and no animal casualty,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Akashdeep Badhawan told PTI.
“The animal was taken to the Katarniaghat range campus and a health examination has been done. It has been released in the Trans Gerua forest,” he said.
All those injured are being treated in the nearest government hospital, the DFO added.
Earlier this week another attack was reported in which three villagers, including a woman, were injured by a leopard in another area of the sanctuary.
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