A farmer died after being attacked by a leopard in Kadethan village of Daund taluk of Pune district on Saturday afternoon. The deceased has been identified as 50-year-old Latabai Baban Dhawade, a resident of Kadethan.
Latabai died after being attacked and dragged away by a leopard around 2 pm on Saturday, according to forest officials.
Latabai has a husband and two children. His death has spread panic among the residents of the district.
Last November 1, a three-month-old child died due to a leopard attack in Boripardhi village of Daund. The deceased Vishnu Gaikwad belongs to a sugarcane farming family. The victim’s mother kept her on her knees when she went out to work in the sugarcane fields. Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the leopard attacked the boy and dragged him to the field. His mother cried out for help. The workers at the scene went after the leopard to save the child. The leopard left the baby in the field and ran away. The injured child was taken to the hospital but he died.
Deputy Conservator of Forests, Pune, Madhav Mohite said both the incidents took place in the afternoon.
“The presence of leopards in the area has increased. Necessary action is being taken to prevent leopard attacks. We have placed net cages in some places and created awareness among the villagers,” said Mohite.
On November 15, four-year-old Shivtej Sanjan Tembhekar died after being attacked by a leopard in Mandavagan Farata village of Shirur taluk in Pune district.
In October, a seven-year-old boy Vansh Rajkumar Singh was killed by a leopard in the same area in Shirur taluk of Pune district. Vansh belonged to a family of migrant laborers from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Forest officials have said that some leopards have been caught in traps placed at different places in Daund and Shirur in the last two months.
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