DEHRADUN: A day after a 15-year-old boy died while running from a leopard, over 700 people blocked the national highway that connects Bageshwar-Kausani-Almora demanding compensation for the family of the child. Hemant Tangaria, a resident of Dayangad village, died on Friday after he hit his head on a stone while trying to flee from a leopard.Notably, six leopard-related deaths have occurred in Bageshwar in the past nine months. All the victims were children. The forest department has also put down three maneaters in the area in this period. On Saturday, residents of Dayangad and neighbouring Nandigaon village sat on the highway raising slogans against the “failure of the authorities to keep them safe from big cats.” They also demanded that compensation in cases of deaths by leopard attacks be hiked from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.DFO Bageshwar Ravinder Singh said that three teams have been formed to locate the leopard and tranquillize the animal or shoot it. Chief wildlife warden Monish Mullick said that the teams would try to trap the leopard and will resort to shooting only if they are unable to catch the animal.Bageshwar MLA Chandan Ram Das said, “Villagers here are living under constant panic. Parents have lost their children. I had raised the issue in the last assembly session as well. I have been demanding that the state government count the leopards using drone camera, tranquillize them and move them to Rajaji or Corbett National Park.”Meanwhile, Bageshwar DFO said that the frequency of leopard attacks has increased as meat shops in the area dispose of waste carelessly which causes leopards to stray into human habitats. “Another reason is the leopards looking for easy prey,” he said.

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