Government offers reward for man-eating leopard in Indian Kashmir

Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir offered a reward Tuesday for any information on a killer leopard believed to have eaten three children in the last week.

Photo: Government offers reward for man-eating leopard in Indian Kashmir

Three children aged between eight and 10 were mauled to death by a leopard near Chatergul village last week, officials said. A 10-year old boy was also killed there last month.

Chatergul village is 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state.

A reward of 10,000 Indian rupees (US$225) would be given to anyone with information on tracking down the leopard, said police officer Hemant Lohia.

Wildlife officers said an exception to laws protecting leopards had been made.

"We've given permission for the killing of the leopard as it has turned into a man-eater," said Farooq Ahmed, an officer in the wildlife department.

Leopards are protected under the Indian Wildlife Act and their killing is punishable by up to six years imprisonment, reports AP.

Leopard attacks on humans sometimes increase in winter when they are forced down from their natural ranges by snow in search of food.