Hassan: Bendekere villagers kill leopard, know why

Hassan: An adult leopard that had attacked and injured at least five people in two neighboring villages was killed by irked Bendekere villagers of Arasikere taluk.

The Bendekere village is around 180 km from tech hub Bengaluru and this hamlet also shares its boundary with Tumkuru district, which has seen the highest number of leopard attacks in the recent past.

“The leopard pounced at them from behind the bushes along a Bendekere village road, forcing them to fall off their bike and caught the woman’s leg. Fearing for their life, both man and his daughter raised an alarm, villagers working in nearby fields immediately gathered and attacked the leopard and killed it,” Deputy Conservator of Forest (Hassan division) K.N. Basavaraj was quoted speaking to IANS.

The DCF further added that the slain leopard had earlier attacked a mother and a son in Bhovi colony of Byragondanahalli which is just five kms away from Bendekere.

“This leopard had attacked mother and son on Monday and after this incident came to light, the forest department had laid nets and traps to capture this animal. During this process, it had attacked our veterinary doctor too, when he was taking aim at the creature to capture it alive. After attacking our doctor it managed to escape,” he explained.

According to him the leopard was perhaps hungry, tired, thirsty and weak as it was being tracked for past few days. It had been on the run due. This may have made it difficult to escape the mob and succumbed to injuries.

“Prima facie investigations reveal that the leopard had been attacked with sickle also as there were two or three cut marks visible on its body. We are yet to receive an autopsy report and the real cause of death can only be ascertained based on this report,” he reasoned in response to a question.

The forest department has registered a case and further investigation is on.