Tea garden worker injured after being attacked by leopard in Jalpaiguri dist

Darjeeling: A tea garden worker was attacked by a leopard in the Jalpaiguri district on Wednesday.

Incidents of man-animal conflict are steadily on the rise in Dooars (Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.)

On Wednesday, the incident occurred at 95B section of Karbala tea estate in Banarhat, Jalpaiguri.

Moneka Munda, the worker was grievously wounded from the attack of a leopard.

A resident of Belbutia Number 3 Line of the tea garden, Munda was part of a team of workers clearing bushes.

Hearing her frantic cries for help, the other workers rushed and rescued him from the clutches of the leopard.

They then rushed her to the Banarhat Health Centre. She was then referred to Birpara General Hospital. The Forest department will bear all expenses for her treatment.

Meanwhile, residents of Silabarihat in Alipurduar have been spending sleepless nights owing to leopard attacks, since Sunday. 10 people including 2 forest personnel have been injured in leopard attacks.Finally the forest department managed to net a leopard on Tuesday evening. After a frantic search for the leopard since Tuesday morning it was finally spotted atop a betel-nut tree. From there it kept jumping to nearby trees. Finally, the leopard was tranquilized atop a mango tree.

The leopard fell to the ground and was caged. It will be released in the Jaldapara National Park after treatment, stated a forest official.

However, the leopard menace did not end there. "We saw another leopard on Tuesday night, after one was captured. There are many. Such is the fear that people have stopped venturing outdoors," stated Zakir Hussain, a resident of Silabarihat.

"We are keeping a strict vigil. Patrolling has continued since Tuesday night. We have set up a cage also and have asked local residents to inform us immediately on leopard sighting," stated Bijay Tamang, Range Officer, Jaldapara South Range.