Leopard mauls Gujarat farmer to death

A 50-year-old farmer was mauled to death by a leopard when he was sleeping at his farm at Mota Munjiyasar village in Amreli district early on Thursday, officials said.

Following the incident, the forest department installed 10 cages on the outskirts of the village, located in Bagasara taluka, to catch the wild animal, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Priyanka Gehlot, said.

The farmer, Vajubhai Borad, had gone to his farm on Wednesday night to sleep there in order to protect his standing crop.

As per the investigation, the victim was sleeping under a temporary shed when he was attacked by the leopard.

"Around 3 am, the big cat sneaked into the farm and caught Borad by his neck when he was sleeping. Since the farm is far from the village, no one heard his cries for help. The leopard eventually killed the farmer and devoured some parts of the body," Gehlot said.

"His mutilated body was found on Thursday morning... This is the second such incident in that village in the last one month," she added.

According to her, it would be too early to presume that the same leopard involved in both the incidents.

"We have deployed a team of 56 personnel, including trackers and forest guards, to search the animal. We have also put up 10 cages to trap it," she added.