Moradabad leopard attacks: 4 dead in August alone, villagers threaten to leave homes

In the past four weeks, four people have died as a result of leopard attacks in the Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, bringing fear to the Bahapur Baliya village. Three of the fatalities occurred in Bahapur Baliya, while the fourth was reported from a neighboring Lalapur Peepalsana village. Residents of Bahapur Baliya held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the possibility of leaving their homes due to the increasing frequency of leopard attacks and the authorities' inability to control the situation.

Six people have been injured in the attacks, and villagers claim that the attacks have spread from agricultural fields to within the vicinity of their homes. On Saturday, 35-year-old farmer Jagraj Singh Saini was killed after a leopard dragged him from his home in the dead of night. The village head Naresh Kumar informed that several families are prepared to leave the village and only return when the situation stabilizes.

The villagers and forest officials believe the same leopard may be responsible for the attacks. The villagers are demanding stronger measures, including declaring the leopard a man-eater and issuing a shoot-on-sight order, as well as the establishment of a permanent forest outpost to monitor the leopard's movements and enable immediate response to any alerts.

The Forest Department is making efforts to capture the roaming leopards using cages, nets, and conducting regular patrols, having already captured ten leopards this month.