The incident occurred on March 23 in Kalagarh Forest division when forest officials, including Divisional Forest Officer(DFO), were transporting a leopard, trapped and caught by villagers. A leopard, ventured into the village after stalking cows, was trapped inside a cowshade by villagers and later handed over to the forest officers in Rikhanikhal development block of the district, they said.
However, when DFO Surendra Kumar of Kalagarh Forest Division along with police were carrying the animal, some villagers suddenly came and threw petrol on the caged leopard and burnt him alive, officials said. The efforts of forest and police officials to save the leopard went in vain, police said.
The body of the leopard has been brought to Ratuadhab forest office for postmortem, they added. "Stern action will be taken against the culprits," Chief Conservator of wildlife S Chandola said.
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