Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Sept 17 : An eight-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard in Haran area of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district today.
The boy was identified as Ahran Shoukat Mir, son of Shoukat Ahmad Mir of Haran Budgam.
Locals of Haran area of Budgam said that the boy was taken away by the leopard towards a nearby field.
They said that after receiving the information, people swung into action and launched a massive search operation to trace the missing boy. The body of the boy was found in a nearby field this evening.
The locals said that a leopard was seen roaming in the area for some time.
Meanwhile, an official said that they are verifying whether the boy was killed by leopard or any other animal, adding that they have not received any information about the presence of the leopard in the area so far.
Today’s incident is second in district Budgam since June 3 when a leopard had taken away a four-year-old girl in Ompora area of Budgam district whose body was found in a nearby nursery after extensive search by the locals and wild-life officials.