The villagers killed the leopard this morning.

A leopard was killed this morning by villagers in Assam. They also gouged its eyes out and chopped off the paws after killing the animal that had critically injured a man in the area.

In Veselipathar, a village in Borhat area of upper Assam's Charaideo district, people said they were forced to kill the leopard because the animal was creating terror in the area for the last few weeks.

A villager, Nileswar Changmai, was attacked by the leopard a few days ago and his condition remains critical. After the attack, he was taken to Charaideo Civil Hospital and he has now been shifted to Dibrugarh Assam Medical College and Hospital.

The leopard also ate several domestic animals, they claimed.

The villagers also accused the Assam forest department of "negligence" and said their complaint about the leopard was ignored. Man-animal conflict has been on a rise in the region due to the forest department's attitude, they said.

About two years ago, in a similar incident, a mob of nearly 100 people in Dibrugarh killed a leopard and ate its meat after it killed a 60-year-old woman.