Rajouri, Nov 28: Panic gripped areas of Palangarh and adjoining villages of Thannamandi in Rajouri on Thursday after a specially-abled man went missing amid suspected presence of leopard in the area.
The missing man was, however, recovered from the fields after night long efforts.
As per locals, a wild leopard was spotted in Copra mohalla of Palangarh in Thannamandi on Thursday evening and simultaneously a specially abled man, identified as Mohammad Qasim (33) son of Abdul Rashid went missing.
“We feared that the man was picked up by leopard and would have been mauled,” locals informed, stating that hundreds of villagers constituted different teams and started searching for the man that continued throughout the night.
However, they said, the man was found lying in the fields on Friday morning.
“We think that the leopard took away the man but left it in the fields after hearing noise of villagers,” said locals.
The officials of the Wildlife Protection Department, however, said that the man was having no injuries and thus there was hardly any possibility that a wild animal attacked him.
“We think it is a case of panic attack. The man got panicked in trauma after hearing about the presence of the leopard from people,” officials said.
Meanwhile, an operation is being conducted in the village area by the Wildlife Protection Department to track the leopard reportedly seen by villagers.
