BAREILLY: In a freak incident on UP highway near Corbett National Park, a leopard that was severely injured by a man as his bike hit it on the road allegedly turned around and attacked him with whatever strength was left in its body. The biker, Sajid Ali, 29, who was bleeding profusely was rushed to hospital but couldn’t be saved. The leopard also died due to a “head injury”, moments later.
A video, shot by a commuter, surfaced online on Friday purportedly showing the leopard carcass lying on the road with blood on its paws and the jaw area. Ali could be seen in a pool of blood at some distance, and some commuters could be heard saying “the wounded animal had pounced on him”.
SHO of Thakurdwara police station, Vivek Sharma, said, “The incident took place at Thakurdwara in Moradabad district on Thursday night. Ali was on a bike when he collided with a two-year-old female leopard on the highway, and both died.”
Sharma added: “The forest department carried out a postmortem on the leopard. The report stated the animal died due to a head injury. Ali, too, suffered a head injury along with ‘other injuries’. The body was sent for autopsy to ascertain the exact cause of death and the nature of the ‘other injuries’.”
“Ali was on his way to Launki Khurd village when a leopard suddenly emerged from the nearby field to cross the road. It seems the biker didn’t have enough time to control his two-wheeler in the darkness, and collided with the animal. Some commuters then stopped their bikes and cars to reach out,” said a police officer, privy to the case. Ali belonged to Thikari village under Bhojpur limits in Moradabad.
A forest official said, “Thakurdwara is about 15-20km from Kashipur town in Uttarakhand and wild animals often stray into this place, at times on the road, from the forests’ periphery.”
