Leopard injures four in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Dec 2 (IANS) In yet another incident of attack by wild animals, four people were injured when a leopard attacked them in an Uttar Pradesh village, state forest officials said Tuesday.

The people were attacked Monday late night in the Gujarna village of Bahraich district while they were sleeping outside their homes. Bahraich is about 270 km from here.

'The leopard is still hiding in the village apparently in the lentil fields,' Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) R.K. Singh told IANS by telephone.

He said combing operation has been launched along with the officials of the World Wildlife Fund-India (WWF-India).

According to forest officials, the leopard lost its way and strayed into the village from the Katarniyaghat forest reserve, which is home to at least 32 leopards.

In the last three months, at least a dozen cases of wild animal attacks have been reported from the Bahraich district.