AHMEDABAD: A female leopard attacked and injured three men in Karamdadi village in Dhari, Amreli district after they allegedly killed her eight-month-old cub on Thursday late night. Later, the three men were arrested by the forest department under the Wildlife Protection Act for allegedly killing a leopard cub.

The injured men were treated at hospital in Amreli before they were arrested.

According to forest officials, eyewitness said that the leopard and the cub had strayed into the field from the nearby sanctuary on Thursday night. They said Ramdas Gondalia, a resident of Karamdadi village, was in the field with his relatives Dhirubhai and Haridas when the incident occurred. They tried to scare the female leopard and her cub while Gondalia threw a club at the leopard which hit the cub on the head killing it on the spot.

Forest officials said that death of the cub angered the female leopard, who attacked the three men causing injuries on their hands and legs. However, as the men cried for help people from the nearby fields gathered. Sensing trouble the female leopard escaped into the forest.

Deputy conservator of forest Anshuman Sharma said that the three men claimed that it was the leopard that attacked them first and in self-defense they attacked it. “We cannot buy the argument of these men as the injury to the cub appears to be serious and does not seem to be made in self-defense,” Sharma said.

Another forest officer said that the three might have tried to get close to the cub to take photos. But later would have got scared and hit it with club to scare the animal.

