Bahraich

Two children were killed by leopards in separate cases in villages near Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS), a forest department official said.

The half-eaten bodies of the kids were recovered on Tuesday after a massive search operation by the locals along with a forest team and police. Divisional forest officer (DFO) Akash Deep Badhawan said one Ramtej, 9, was attacked and dragged by a leopard from village Rikkha Pakadiya Deewan under Motipur police station area on Monday evening.

A joint team of police and forest department combed the adjoining forest and spotted the half-eaten body in the bushes in Ghusri in Motipur forest range on Tuesday. In the second attack, Aditya, 4, of Jhala village under Matera police station area, who had come to his maternal uncle's house in Maiglapurwa village, was attacked by a leopard on Monday evening.

The DFO said only the head of the boy could be recovered on Tuesday from a spot about 2 kilometres from where the leopard had attacked him. It is not yet known whether the attacks were by the same leopard or two leopards. "It is unlikely that the same leopard would attack within a matter of hours," said a wildlife expert.

Akash Deep said forest employees and a police team have been deployed in the area to prevent any recurrence of the incident. The local people have been asked not to venture out during night and move around only in groups. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) executive officer Dabeer Hasan said compensation of Rs 10,000 has been provided to both the families and further assistance would be provided by the forest department after findings of the post-mortem report.

The forest department has also started preparations to install cages to trap the leopards.