Leopard sightings spark panic in twin villages of Balrampur | Lucknow News
Lucknow: Panic has gripped Kauwa and Kithura villages in Uttar Pradesh‘s Balrampur district following multiple leopard sightings over the past few days.Daily life in the twin villages of the Terai region has been disrupted, with villagers staying indoors and children not attending school.The latest sighting occurred around 10 pm on Friday, when Udar Narayan, a resident of Kauwa village, spotted the leopard emerging from a sugarcane field while he was returning from the fields. Narayan raised an alarm, but before other villagers could respond, the leopard fled towards a nearby river.“In the last few days, the leopard has attacked our livestock — a calf and two goats were killed,” said Mahendra Singh, a resident of Kauwa. Villagers Ramdev, Babbu, Nibbar, and Kandhai Lal claimed that a woman was also injured in a recent encounter with the leopard.Reports of leopard’s movements have also surfaced from Kithura village.“We are living in constant fear. The leopard needs to be captured and relocated before someone loses life,” a villager said.Forest department officials have deployed rescue teams to both villages. Brijesh Singh Parmar, ranger of the Barahwa range, said, “We are monitoring the situation closely. A search operation has been launched, and efforts are on to track and safely capture the animal.”The forest department officials urged villagers to remain calm and alert, and to report any fresh sightings.
