Maha: Leopard injures six while escaping from Nashik village

Six persons, including four of a family and a forest department official, were injured after a leopard attacked them while trying to escape from a village in Maharashtra's Nashik district, police said Monday.

The leopard was spotted by residents of Ashakirnawadi village, under Wadivhare police station limits in Igatpuri taluka, at around 3:30 pm on Sunday, following which they alerted the local forest department, an official said.

While the forest staff and assembled villagers tried to corner the leopard, the animal panicked and retaliated by attacking six people and escaping into the wilderness, Range Forest Officer Ramesh Dhomse said.

Police identified the injured as Forest Circle Officer Omkar Deshpande (40), Sachin Joshi (20), Pandharinath Shene (40), Bhiva Shene (38), Hiranan Shene (20), Sagar Shene (14), the last four being family members.

They have been shifted to Nashik Civil Hospital for treatment, the official said.

Dhomse said forest department teams had been deployed across the area and expressed confidence that the leopard would be trapped soon.