Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Fear spread through Hatmali village, Ladsawangi on Thursday after a leopard killed a bull around 3 am.
The bull belonged to farmer Pandurang Mhaskhe of Gat No. 90. When he went to the cattle shed at 6 am, he found the animal missing and spotted bloodstains nearby. He and other farmers searched the fields and later found the bull dead in nearby bushes, its abdomen torn open. They immediately alerted authorities. A forest department team inspected the site and confirmed the kill as a leopard attack. Veterinary officers Dr Mahesh Ubale, Dr Rajendra Chaudhary and Dr Abu Amer Bagwan performed the post-mortem. With cotton picking, rabi sowing and late-night irrigation in progress, farmers and labourers say they are working in fear. They have demanded that the leopard be trapped at once. The Ladsawangi–Chauka belt reports such attacks almost every year. This is the third incident in six months, and villagers claim routine forest patrols are failing to prevent losses.