Villagers protest as leopard kills man in Koppal

A man who was grazing his cattle at Virupapur Gaddi islet in Gangavathi taluk of Koppal district was killed by a leopard on Friday evening. The deceased has been identified as Raghavendra Venkatesh, 19, a resident of Kariammana Gaddi islet.

As per information provided by the villagers, he was grazing his cattle at a desolated place between Rishimukha Betta and a private resort when he was attacked by the animal. After noticing the scared cattle dispersing just as the animal attacked, locals rushed to the spot. Forest officials also visited later.

Holding forest officials responsible for the incident, the family members of the victim and villagers resorted to a protest for a while, demanding that the local MLA Paranna Manavalli and Forest Minister Anand Singh visit the spot and take action against the “lethargic officials”. The police arrived and tried to pacify the agitating villagers, who had blocked the Anegondi-Sanapur Road and burnt tyres there. Deputy Superintendent of Police R. Ujjanikoppa managed to pacify them eventually.

People do not usually go to desolated places in the area because of the presence of leopards. Recently, a priest of Durgadevi temple was also killed by a leopard. “There are many leopards and bears in the area. Two leopards were caught and released into Atal Bihari Vajpayee Zoological Park in Kamalapur. People are advised to be careful while going out into these areas. In the past, farmers would carry traditional weapons and tools such as sickles for self-protection while going to the fields. Now, people carry phones,” said G.P. Harsha Bhanu, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Koppal.

Compensation

Forest Minister Anand Singh visited the victim’s house and consoled the grieving kith and kin of the victim after paying homage to the dead on Saturday. He also handed over compensation of ₹7.5 lakh from the Forest Department and ₹2.5 lakh from his own pocket. Speaking to presspersons, he said that considering the recent leopard attacks on people and domestic animals, he had directed forest officials to catch the predators and release them in the zoological park.

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