Shocking visuals of a leopard charging at a crowd of people and injuring four persons have emerged from Vellore in Tamil Nadu.
The video, which has gone viral on social media, shows a group of people assembled in a field and a leopard charging at them in full vigour. On seeing the leopard charging at them, people run away in all directions, to save themselves from the animal. The incident reportedly happened in Nagaleri near Vaniyambadi in Vellore district on Thursday morning.
The injured have been identified as Alamelu, Santhosh, Bharathi and Kamal, who were taken to Vaniyambadi Government hospital for treatment. Two persons are still in the hospital undergoing treatment, while two others have been discharged, said a police officer from Ambalur police station.
The officer also stated that a team of officers from the district forest, police and revenue departments, have been dispatched to the area to catch the leopard. The team will try to trap the leopard using cages and ropes.
In June, people from Valparai in Coimbatore district protested demanding the forest department officials to take action and trap a leopard which had killed five persons till then. A team consisting of Valparai MLA, Forest Department officials and Revenue officials held discussions with the protesters, whose prime demand was protection from leopards. Following this meeting, the Forest Department set up six traps in estates in Cinchona, Kallar and Kanjamalai to catch the man-eater.
In February this year, a 4-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard in Malakkappara, Valparai. The leopard dragged the boy away from outside his house after evening fell and killed him. Days after the incident, the man-eater was caught in one of the traps set up by the Forest department.