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A rare leopard was beaten to death by angry villagers in Gandarpur area near Bhubaneswar on Thursday after it strayed into human habitation and injured two persons, officials said.
"Angry over injuries caused to two youths by the leopard which had entered the human settlement, villagers of Gandarpur beat the animal to death using sticks and cricket bats," city Divisional Forest Officer J K Das told PTI.
The rare animal was first spotted in the morning by some youths in a bush on the outskirts of the village, near Nandankanan Zoo, he said, adding the villagers got angry after the leopard attacked two youths.
A large number of villagers, armed with sticks, cricket bats, hockey sticks and other objects, gathered near the site and surrounded the leopard before beating the animal non-stop till it died, he said. An investigation has been ordered into the incident and the circumstances that led to the killing of the leopard, DFO said.
The animal's carcass was sent for post-mortem, he said, adding that the leopard was killed before forest officials and the tranquiliser team could reach the site to trap it.
After killing the animal, the villagers refused to hand over the carcass to the forest department personnel, demanding compensation to the injured.
The carcass was recovered following the intervention of senior officials, sources said. The injured persons were taken to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, Das said. The leopard was suspected to have strayed into the area from nearby Chandaka forest, officials said.