Pune: A seven-year-old boy, Vans Rajkumar Singh, lost his life following a leopard attack.

The incident occurred late at night near the Wagheswar Jaggery Plant located on the Gokulnagar-Dagadwadi Road, in the village of Mandavgan Farata in Shirur, where Vans’ parents, Rajkumar and Rekha Singh, work.

On that fateful Friday (October 18), a minor argument between Rajkumar and Rekha over a domestic issue led to them being outside. As Rekha walked ahead, Vans trailed behind her.

Suddenly, Rekha heard her son’s loud cries and turned to see a leopard attacking him. Despite her desperate attempts to save him, the leopard dragged the boy into a nearby sugarcane field.

In response to Rekha’s distress calls, workers from the jaggery plant, along with sugarcane laborers and local villagers, gathered to search for the child. The authorities, including the police and forest department, were immediately alerted.

Late into the night, the search team found the child in a critical condition, but upon being rushed to the hospital, doctors pronounced him dead, stating that he had succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital.

Forest department officials promptly arrived at the site following the tragic news. To prevent further incidents and capture the leopard, they employed drones to scan the area. Additionally, they set up a network of 12 cages and nine trap cameras to capture the animal.

The region around the Bhima River has a significant leopard population, prompting authorities to issue safety guidelines for residents.

The Junnar Forest Department advised villagers to take precautions such as installing sufficient lighting around fields and homes, removing grass and shrubs along roadsides and around fields, avoiding outdoor activities before dawn and after dusk unless absolutely necessary.