Farmer attacked by leopard in Malegaon

NASHIK: A farmer was attacked by a leopard on Thursday afternoon when the big cat strayed into his farm in search of water at Vanpat village in Malegaon Raghunath Shravan Nikam(62) received grievous injuries in the neck and left hand. Villagers rushed him to a private hospital in Malegaon wher he is currently undergoing treatment.
Villagers and officials of the forest department said that due to droughtlike situation in these areas, the leopard may have strayed into the farm in search of water in the heat of the afternoon.

“Nikam had gone to the farm to switch on the electric motor pump for water when the leopard attacked him. His son, who was in
the farm, saw the leopard attacking him and immediately shouted for help. Villagers rushed to the spot with sticks. Hearing the
uproar, the leopard fled from the spot,” said sources in the forest department. Villagers said that on receiving information, the forest department rushed to the spot immediately and inspected it. In the evening, the forest department installed a cage in the Vanpat area to trap the leopard.

Around a fortnight back, the forest department had installed cages in the Dahidi area of Malegaon. Villagers heaved a sigh
of relief when two leopards had got trapped in one cage. Howvwer, Thursday’s incident has once again triggered panic among the residents

“A cage has been installed. We will also keep a vigil. People need to be cautious while going to the farms. At present, Nikam is stable. We have conducted panchanama of the area. There could be more than one leopard in the area,” said sources in the forest department.