In a tragic incident of human–wildlife conflict in the north Nighasan forest range of the Dudhwa buffer zone, a 14-year-old boy from Jasnagar, under the Tikonia Kotwali area, was fatally attacked by a leopard near Khairatiya village on Monday night. The attack occurred just a few meters from the railway station.
After carrying out the attack, the leopard fled into the nearby fields, leaving the boy’s body at the scene.
The child has been identified as Raj Kamal Singh.
The boy’s death came to light on Tuesday morning when family members and villagers found his body near a hutment close to the railway track. Officials from the Dudhwa buffer zone were informed about the fatal attack. Following this, Range Officer Bhupendra Singh, along with his team, arrived at the scene on Tuesday and initiated an investigation.
The presence of pugmarks at the scene confirmed that the attack had been carried out by a leopard.
Kirti Chaudhari, deputy director of the Dudhwa buffer zone, confirmed that the minor was killed in a leopard attack. She said the boy had walked toward the railway track near the Mohana river when the leopard attacked and killed him. She added that the body would be sent for a postmortem examination and that compensation would be provided to the bereaved family in accordance with the rules.
Chaudhary said that the area is near Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) forests and was prone to movements of big cats and other wild animals. She added that chain-link fencing in some sensitive places in this area prevented human casualties in big cats attacks for the last two years.
The local villagers and farmers’ union leaders lodged a protest with the forest range officer, police and Nighasan sub divisional magistrate (SDM) and demanded monetary compensation and jobs for the aggrieved family. They also demanded fencing of the whole area to prevent big cat movement into their area.
