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Leopard on the prowl in Jorhat village

By Pankaj Borthakur

JORHAT, Sept 21 � The fear of leopard attack has forced the children of the nondescript No. 2 Ghorfolia Gaon in Jorhat district to skip their primary school for the last two days after a full-grown leopard injured three persons in the locality on Wednesday.

Several elderly citizens have also stopped coming out of their houses after sunset to attend the daily naam prasanga in the village naamghar as wildlife officials could not chase away the big cat after the incident.

�Several children refused to attend my school and we, the elderly people, also did not go to the naamghar at night,� said Surendra Nath Neog, headmaster of Dinanath Gogoi Primary School of the locality.

Though four forest guards fired a few rounds in the air to chase away the leopard, they failed to do so, the villagers alleged. According to them, officials did not pay heed to their problem although they had repeatedly requested for help.

�We have neither gone to the paddy fields nor have the domestic animals been taken to the grazing fields near the jungle due to the fear of the leopard,� said an elderly citizen of the village.

When asked about the inaction of the Forest department officials in Jorhat, an Assistant Conservator of Forest said that he would inform the seriousness of the matter to the ranger concerned.

Recounting the attack, septuagenarian witness Annada Gogoi said they panicked as the big cat killed her goat before attacking three persons � Reba Gogoi, Dambaru Neog and Dharmajit Neog.

Seriously injured Dambaru and Reba are still undergoing treatment at the Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH), while Dharmajit was released on Friday.

The non-availability of anti-rabies medicine in the government hospital was alleged by Dharmajit�s mother who was told to purchase it from the private pharmacy for treatment.

�He could not buy the anti-rabies injection from the pharmacy as it costs more than Rs 15,000 in the private market in Jorhat. If the hospital provides it I will be grateful to the authorities. He is my only son,� said Runumi Gogoi, mother of Dharmajit.

Headmaster Surendra Nath Neog said that the villagers have decided unanimously to provide financial help for the treatment of all the three injured persons. He has appealed to senior Forest department officials to take action for preventing the leopard attack in the area.

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