It was a night-long ordeal for the villagers of Aberi, near Rampur, when a leopard entered houses and labour huts, injuring about 20 persons, with one of them struggling for life at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here. It was at about 3 am last night that a leopard entered a house in Aberi village and injured two women, Meera Devi and Dou Devi. After attacking the women the leopard entered the cowshed, where the family members bolted the door from outside. The village located across the Sutlej, opposite the Nogli area of Rampur falls in the Ani subdivision of Kullu district. According to forest officials, the leopard almost 10 feet-long broke open the door of the cowshed and fled. It was after leaving a trail of injuries through the night that that the leopard was finally tarnquilised by the wildlife wing of the Forest Department late in the evening today. After breaking open the door of the cow shed, it was the turn of the labour engaged by Gable India Ltd, who became the victim of the leopard. The labourers, working on the Rampur hydroelectric project were fast asleep when the predator attacked them, leaving 15 of them injured. One of them has been admitted to the IGMC in a critical state, while the remaining have been admitted to the Mahatam Gandhi Hospital at Rampur. The villagers finally managed to put an end to the terror of the leopard, when he entered a concrete house. The villagers locked him up and summoned the forest and local administration. However, it was only after injuring a forest guard, Jia Lal, who had entered the room to shoot at the animal with a tranquiliser gun that the leopard became quiet. The Ani SDM and the Rampur DFO along with other staff arrived at the spot to bring the animal under control.
