Kupwara, Mar 28: A six-year-old girl was mauled to death by a leopard in Kupwara, police said today.
 Insha Chopan daughter of Abdul Gaffar Chopan was attacked by the beast when she ventured out of her house at Cherwani in Gulgam, last evening, police said.
 He said the leopard had strayed into the village from the nearby forest and fled after the residents rushed out of their houses on hearing the cries of the victim.
 After post-mortem, the body of the deceased was handed over to her family for last rites, he added.
 The incident triggered protests in the area with people from Gulgam, Batergam and Chairwari blocking the Kupwara-Chowkibal and Kupwara-Gulgam road for hours. They later marched towards Kupwara and held demonstration against wildlife department.
 The district administration later issued orders declaring the leopard as man eater. “A special squad of wildlife officials laced with guns and tranquilizers have reached the spot to kill the beast,” a senior official said.
 Meanwhile, the residents of different areas of this frontier district told Greater Kashmir that wild animals had created a reign of terror near the forest areas with attacks on humans becoming order of the day. “This is fifth death in leopard attacks in the district. Before this Kulsooma of Hangrikoot, Ishfaq Ahmad of Hafrada, and Zahid Farooq of Diver were killed by leopards,” they said.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 IST