Pune: The terror of the man-eating leopard that killed 3 people has ended, it was killed by sharpshooters.:

News Topical, Digital Desk : The Mankho leopard, which had killed three people in Pune district, was shot dead by a forest department sharpshooter late Tuesday night. Attempts were made to tranquilize the leopard, but when that failed and it became aggressive, it had to be shot. The action came amid widespread anger and protests in Shirur and surrounding areas.

Forest officials said that in the last one month, two children and an elderly man were killed in leopard attacks in Mauja Pimprikhed area of Shirur tehsil.

Villagers' anger and Forest Department's response

The repeated attacks had spread tension and resentment in Junnar, Shirur, Ambegaon, and Khed talukas. Following the death of a 13-year-old boy on Sunday, villagers set a forest department vehicle on fire in anger. Following this, on Monday, the forest department issued an order allowing the capture, or if necessary, elimination, of the "man-eating" leopard.

Sharpshooter action and leopard's death

According to an official, "On Tuesday night, the leopard was spotted about 400–500 meters from the site of the previous incident. Attempts were made to stun it with a tranquilizer gun, but it had no effect. It then became aggressive, prompting sharpshooters to fire in self-defense around 10:30 p.m. The leopard is estimated to be about five to six years old."

The carcass of the leopard and the second leopard were safely captured.

After displaying the leopard's body to the villagers, it was sent to the Manikdhoh Rescue Center for a postmortem. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, another male leopard became trapped in a previously set cage and was safely captured.