Lakhimpur Kheri/Bahraich: Two children were killed in leopard attacks in Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich districts of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.
The mutilated body of a seven-year-old girl, Saniya, was found in Bojhiya village of Lakhimpur Kheri on Tuesday morning, hours after she was dragged away by a leopard from outside her house, police officials said, as reported by PTI.
The incident took place in the Padhuva police station area on Monday evening. The area falls under the Dhaurahra forest range of the Dudhwa buffer zone.
According to her father Sampati Giri, Saniya was playing outside her house around 7 pm on Monday when the leopard attacked her and carried her into the fields in its jaws.
He claimed that along with other villagers, he chased the leopard and attempted to search for his daughter, but in vain.
Mohit Pundeer, Station House Officer of Padhuva police station, rushed to the village with his staff after receiving information about the incident and launched a search operation, officials said.
However, there was not much progress during the night due to the darkness and the tough terrain.
The body of the girl was found in a sugarcane field in the morning. It has been sent for post-mortem analysis, the police said.
Confirming the attack, Ashok Kumar Srivastava, range officer, Dhaurahra, said patrolling and combing operation in the area would be intensified.
He also appealed to the villagers to stay alert in view of leopard movement in the area.
In the Bahraich incident, a seven-year-old boy, Rohit, was killed in a leopard attack on Monday evening in the Badhaiya village under the Kakarha Range of the Katarniaghat Wildlife Division, the police said.
Rohit had gone towards a field near his home around 7.30 pm on Monday when a leopard hiding there attacked him, forest department officials said.
Family members and villagers rushed to the spot on hearing the child’s screams.
The leopard dragged the child into a sugarcane field, upon seeing people approaching. The villagers later found Rohit in critical condition. He died before he could be taken to the hospital, officials said.
An immediate financial assistance of Rs 10,000 has been provided to the victim’s family. Formalities are being completed to provide the admissible compensation of Rs 5 lakh in accordance with the rules, Apurva Dixit, divisional forest officer, Katarniaghat Wildlife Division, said.