Staff REPORTER
ITANAGAR, Jun 22: The people in Kherem Kachari village under Bordumsa circle of Changlang district have been reeling under constant fear of attack by leopards for the past many days. Atleast five people and nearly 10 livestock have been injured so far in the leopard attack, sources said.
After a villager was attacked this morning, the whole village came out for a rescue operation with the Forest Department, Changlang district to catch the big cat. The forest personnel are being assisted by experts from Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Assam.
The panic-stricken villagers gheraoed the whole tea plantation area where the animal was last seen entering. Gaon Burah of the village, who had to suffer loss with his livestock, informed that all the villagers have been out to catch the animal since 11 am after a man was attacked.
He said that the leopard attack has been continuing for the past 15 days and the news was conveyed to the Bordumsa administration about 8-10 days back. He claimed that there are atleast three animals in the area, two grown male and female and a young one.
Speaking to this daily, Bordumsa ADC Oling Lego informed that a complaint was received by the OC, Bordumsa PS about 4-5 days back and a ‘notification’ was issued to all concerned about the incident. “We had issued a notification to the GB, forest and police departments. And a WT message was sent to wildlife authorities at Miao,” he said.
The ADC had also visited the village and advised the villagers to be cautious till the animal is caught. “I advised them to use dhol and gave them some firecrackers to shoo the animal away,” he added.
Till filing of this report, the animal was not caught.