Leopard mauls farmer in Haridwar

HARIDWAR: In the second leopard attack within a fortnight, a farmer was mauled while he was working in his fields on Friday evening.

As soon as the animal pounced on Yusuf, he raised an alarm and farmers working in the fields nearby rushed to his rescue, forcing the wild animal to flee, but not before injuring him on the face and in the neck.

Irate villagers gheraoed divisional forest officer Chandra Shekhar Semwal and demanded that arrangements be made for their security.

They said they were afraid of going to work in the fields due to the numerous leopard-attack incidents in Haridwar and rural areas in its neighbourhood and despite several representations, the forest department had failed to provide them any security. The DFO assured them that patrolling would soon begin in the area.

On March 1, a leopard had entered factory premises in the SIDCUL area and injured three employees.

In April 2012, a leopard was spotted in the canteen of the collectorate building at Roshnabad. The wild animal had seriously injured an employee there.