A 65-year-old woman was mauled to death by a leopard in Gadbori village in the district early on Friday, forest officials said.
The forest department suspects that the same leopard had killed a nine-month-old boy on Sunday in this village in Sindewahi tehsil.
"The woman, identified as Gayabai Hatkar, was sleeping outside her house in Gadbori village. The leopard attacked her during the wee hours and dragged her towards the nearby jungle area," S V Ramarao, chief conservator of forests (Chandrapur circle), said.
The victim's family members later found her missing from the place and also spotted blood stains in the courtyard, following which they alerted the forest officials.
"The woman's body was recovered around 200 metres away from her house...We had recently caged a leopardess from the area and we suspect that a leopard is now creating a menace," the official said.
A group of villagers held a protest before the forest officials and stopped them from carrying out the 'panchnama' (site inspection).
Congress MLA from Brahmapuri constituency Vijay Wadettiwar also joined the protest. He demanded that shrubs around the village be cleared and fence be installed around village immediately.
The forest officials assured installation of barbed wire fence around the village to avoid such incidents.
"We have already installed 50 solar lights in the village for the safety of villagers. We have now agreed to install the wire fence around the village. We have also set up camera traps and cages to capture the leopard," Ramarao said.
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