Surat: A seven-year-old boy was killed by a leopard near Mahal village in the Purna Wildlife Sanctuary on Tuesday. Ritek Ghulum went to the forest with his grandmother to graze cattle when the leopard attacked. Around 1.30pm on Tuesday, they were nearly 2km away from Mahal, a village of around 500 people, when the leopard jumped out of the bushes and attacked the grandmother, Antu Chaudhary. She moved away quickly and the leopard immediately targeted Ritek. “The leopard severely injured Ritek in the neck and dragged him a few metres away into some bushes. It could not take the body away due to the thick bushes. Within a few minutes, some men from nearby came to help as the grandmother shouted for help,” a forest official said. The attack occurred in the Bardipada range of Subir taluka in the North Forest division of Dang district. The men threw stones at the leopard after which it fled. The men then recovered the body and informed forest officials. A forest department team went to the spot shifted Ritek to a hospital, where he was declared dead. “The boy died on the spot due to the bite on his neck. The forest department has set three trap in the area to capture the leopard,” a forest official said. Forest officials are not sure about the age of the leopard in questions. Villagers claimed a lactating female with cubs attacked the boy, fearing a threat to her cubs.
