Uttarakhand: 36-year-old woman seriously injured in leopard attack

Pauri (Uttarakhand), Dec 10 (PTI) A leopard attacked and seriously injured a woman in Pokhra block of Pauri district on Wednesday. This is the fourth incident of a leopard attack in this block in last 30 days.

Officials here said that the incident occurred at 11:30 am in Deorari Talli village when 36-year-old Kanchan Devi was cutting grass with other women. Suddenly, a leopard attacked her, seriously injuring her.

A local, Pushkar Singh Negi, said that the leopard sank its teeth into Devi's neck and face. He said that the women accompanying her raised an alarm, but the leopard did not let go of Devi.

Meanwhile, some young men standing on the road heard the commotion and rushed to the spot. Among them, Ankit Kandari, who was deployed as a village guard, attacked the leopard with stones, causing it to panic and flee into the fields, leaving the woman behind.

Seriously injured, Devi was immediately taken to Primary Health Centre (Pokhra). Considering her critical condition, she was shifted to nearby Satpuli hospital.

Later, Pauri District Magistrate Swati S Bhadauria arranged for an air ambulance. Devi was airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh where a team of specialist doctors is treating her.

Following the incident, Forest Department teams has increased their patrolling in Deorari Talli and surrounding areas.

Last month, between November 11 and 15, in three separate incidents over five days, a leopard killed one woman and seriously injured two others.

Abhimanyu Singh, divisional forest officer, Garhwal Forest Division, told PTI that cages are being set up in the area to capture the leopard, and forest department personnel and village guards have been instructed to maintain constant vigilance.

He said that people are being advised to remain alert, avoid going alone to sensitive areas, and only venture out of their homes in groups. PTI DPT AMJ AMJ