Bahraich, April 27: A leopard was beaten to death by villagers on Wednesday after it injured 13 villagers in Kathotia village of Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary here, authorities said. Some forest personnel too were injured in the attack, forest officials said. They are being treated at a nearby government hospital.

According to the forest department sources, the leopard had wandered out of jungle and reached the village in the early hours of Wednesday. People were working in the fields when the leopard attacked them and injured 13 of them, including three women. Leopard With Head Stuck in Plastic Water Container Rescued in Thane District (Watch Video).

On receiving the information, the forest workers tried to catch the leopard by casting a net, but hundreds of villagers who had gathered there surrounded the leopard and thrashed it with sticks.

Divisional Forest Officer Akashdeep Badhawan told reporters that the forest department personnel made efforts to catch the leopard but the villagers killed it before it could be caught.

Some villagers also attacked and injured forest staff, he said. “We are trying to identify those who did it. We will lodge a case to ensure arrest of the accused,” Badhawan said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)