Bijnor (UP), Jun 30 (PTI) An toddler was killed in a leopard attack after he wandered into a nearby forest while playing with his elder brother in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district on Monday, forest officials said.

According to Gyan Singh, Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) of the Forest Department, the incident took place in Koharpur village in the Bijnor Sadar area.

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The child's parents, Rajkumar and Kiran, were working in the fields at the time while their three children were at home with their grandmother, Singh said.

"Later in the afternoon, five-year-old Harshit and his younger brother 18-month-old Mayank strayed nearly half a kilometre into the nearby forest while playing. Suddenly, a leopard pounced on Mayank and grabbed him by the neck," the officer said.

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"By the time villagers working in nearby fields heard the commotion and rushed to the spot, the child had succumbed to his injuries. The leopard fled into the forest," he added.

SDO Singh said that a trap is being placed to capture the leopard. Local police officer Uday Pratap said the child's body has been sent for post-mortem.

(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)