A 23-year-old youth, identified as Shankar Naik, was killed by a leopard in Sushil Nagar in Sandur taluk on Wednesday.
According to preliminary information, Shankar was grazing cattle when he was attacked. He was found dead with bleeding injuries around the neck.
This is for the first time in the past three years that the leopard had killed a youth.
In 2015 October and November, three persons were killed by a leopard in Siddapur and Sushil Nagar of the taluk. Mehabood sab was killed on October 12 and Prakash Naik was killed on October 25. On November 12, Bharamalingappa was killed.
Following the attack, Forest department had stepped up vigil and made relentless efforts to trap the wild cat, which proved to be very elusive. Later, a shoot-at-sight order was given and one male leopard was killed in fag end of October 2015.
On Wednesday, even as the news spread and the photo of the injured going viral on the social media, people in Sushil Nagar and surrounding villages have been gripped by fear. They are worried as agricultural activities have started during the current monsoon and they would not be able to go for daily work with the leopard on the prowl. They have been hoping that the Forest department would make elaborate arrangement to trap the leopard by laying cages at various places.
Forest department officials have rushed to the spot.
