Forest Department official have lodged an FIR against unknown persons for killing the three-year-old adult male leopard whose carcass was found in the fields on Thursday.
The carcass weighing 61 kg, was first spotted by villagers near the Moradabad-Amroha border.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Moradabad, Kanhaiya Patel, said the carcass was sent to Bareilly for autopsy.
"The post-mortem report suggests that the animal succumbed to traumatic shock due to head injury. Besides the head, no other injury mark was found on the body. Veterinary experts said the leopard was either struck on the head by a heavy object or it may have sustained head injury after being hit by a vehicle," the DFO said.
He further said that the FIR had been lodged because the possibility of the big cat being killed by villagers could not be ruled out.
"The case will be clear once police completes its probe whether the animal was hit by a vehicle or attacked by villagers," he said.
SHO Kanth Ajay Gautam and forest officials said that this was "a rare occasion when a leopard's carcass has been found under mysterious circumstances in the district".
On Monday, enraged villagers of Bhogpur in Bijnor district shot dead a leopard, hours after the big cat mauled a 14-year-old boy to death.
Since November, six persons, including the Bijnor teenager, have been killed in leopard attacks in the district.
( With inputs from IANS )