An 11-year-old boy was dragged from his home and mauled to death by a leopard in a village adjoining the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary here, police said today.
Ram Sagar was at his house in Amritpur village last evening when the leopard entered through the door and dragged him out to the fields, they added.
The villagers tried to save Sagar from the leopard, the officials said, adding that his body was later recovered in the night.
The incident led to protests by the locals who alleged inaction on the part of the forest department even after three similar incidents in as many days in the area.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) project officer Dabeer Hasan said the leopard's movement was detected in the area 15 days ago.
This region is regarded as a man-animal conflict-prone zone since leopards are present here in good numbers, he said.
Hasan said the forest department staff and NGOs have been apprising locals to remain vigilant.
The forest department will install three cages today to catch the leopard and tranquilisers will be used if required, he said.
In a similar incident on Sunday, a child was killed by a leopard in the same village and on Monday a leopard injured a child in another area of the sanctuary.
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