Child attacked by ‘leopard’ in Ambala, wildlife warden says no trace found | Chandigarh News

AMBALA: A four-year-old boy was reportedly attacked by a ‘leopard’, inflicting sharp injuries and welts on his neck, while returning home with his mother from Surgal village to neighbouring Tharwa village in Ambala district around 5 pm on Sunday.

The injured child has been identified as Dipanshu of Tharwa village, who is currently undergoing treatment at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh. Police said the child is out of danger.

The child was running in front of his mother on the road that connects the two villages, while the woman had her other two-year-old child on her lap and a sack of flour on her head. The woman had gone to the flour mill in the neighboring village of Surgal, just one kilometer away.

Dipanshu’s mother Rajni said, “Around 5 pm, I was returning home with my children from the flour mill in the neighbouring village of Surgal. Suddenly, a leopard came and took away Dipanshu, who was walking a little ahead of me. I saw the leopard taking away my child. It was very big. I started screaming for help when the villagers gathered and chased the animal with sticks. The villagers soon brought back my son, who was bleeding profusely as the leopard had left marks on his neck.”

She said the boy was taken to a hospital in Naraingarh from where he was referred to GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh, for further treatment.

Ambala wildlife inspector Rakesh Kumar claimed that rumours were circulating in the area that the boy was attacked by a ‘leopard’ after an old video of a sighting of this animal from somewhere was circulated on the internet on Sunday, linking it to the incident in Surgal village.

When the district police came to know about the incident, they called up the wildlife department officials in Ambala on Sunday, who continued their search operation in the area on Monday to look for any trace of the leopard or any other wild animal.

ASI Sube Singh, in-charge of Mahua Kheri police station in Naraingarh district, said, “The incident took place in the evening when the woman was returning home to Tharwa village from the neighbouring Surgal village after visiting a flour mill. The woman had two of her children with her and one of them, Dipanshu, was attacked and carried away by a wild animal. The child has sharp wounds on his neck.”

ASI Sube said, “Two youths from the village claimed that they saw a leopard in a sugarcane field and took a video of it.”

Wildlife inspector Rakesh Kumar said, “We have recorded the statement of the child’s mother. During our search, we did not find any tracks or footprints of the leopard at the spot or in the surrounding area. Some youth of the village claimed that they had seen a leopard and took a video of the animal. It seems that the video is old and rumours about the leopard’s presence were spread in the area, though we could not find any track. To ensure the safety of the people, we are combing the entire area for the past two days.”

“If it was a leopard, it cannot have left the child like that. Leopards can lift heavy animals weighing 30-40 kg and climb a tree with them. It could have been a wild dog,” added Inspector Rakesh.