Bettiah: Panic across dozens of villages along the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border eased on Friday after a leopard that injured eight people in separate attacks was finally tranquilised and rescued near Poornaha Mishra village under the Jatha Bazar police station area in Kushinagar district.The leopard, suspected to have strayed from forests near the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in West Champaran, triggered fear across the Gandak diara belt since Thursday.According to villagers, the animal first entered Maniya Chapar village under Piprasi panchayat in West Champaran and attacked Chirai Devi, who was critically injured and referred to GMCH Bettiah. It later attacked Manoj Sharma and Dhanpati Devi in Bhilorwa Tola before colliding with a motorcycle on the PP embankment, injuring schoolteacher Sunil Gupta.Local resident Sumant Yadav said, “The leopard entered Maniya Chapar village and attacked Chirai Devi. Later it injured Manoj Sharma and Dhanpati Devi. While trying to escape, it hit a bike on the embankment, injuring the rider.”After crossing into Uttar Pradesh, the leopard attacked several others, including a local journalist, who was rushed to Gorakhpur Medical College.Villagers said the animal later hid inside houses and eventually took shelter inside a culvert, where forest teams traced it.Kushinagar DFO Varun Singh said joint teams from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh carried out the rescue operation. “The leopard was sedated using a tranquilliser gun and safely caged. It has been sent to Gorakhpur Zoo,” Varun said.
