Tumkur: A five-year-old boy was killed in a leopard attack in Gubbi taluk of Tumkur on Thursday evening.
The victim has been identified as Samarth Gowda, son of Shivakumar and Pushpalatha.
It is gathered that Samarth and his grandmother, Gangalakshmi were returning home after grazing their cow when the leopard jumped out of the bushes and pounced on the cow. However, the bovine managed to escape whereafter the leopard attacked Samarth and dragged him into the forest.
Hearing their screams, locals rushed to the spot. They recovered his body during the search operation.
Angered by this incident, several villagers staged a protest here demanding the forest department officials eliminate the leopard and family be given adequate compensation.
Deputy Conservator of Forests HC Girish, meanwhile, said that the family of the deceased boy will be given Rs 7.5 lakh compensation.
