Leopard mauls 3-year-old to death after dragging him from home in Jalpaiguri

A three-year-old child was killed in a leopard attack at Kalabari Tea Garden under Angrabhasha Gram Panchayat No. 1 in Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri district. The incident occurred late Friday night when the child, Ayush Kalandi, was sitting with his grandfather at their house in the Hulash Line area. A leopard entered the house and dragged Ayush away. His mutilated body was later found in the nearby tea garden bushes.

Family members shouted for help after the leopard took the child. A local resident attempted to rescue Ayush but failed. The leopard disappeared into the tea garden. Ayush’s father is absent from the family, and his mother works as a daily-wage labourer in the tea estate. After the incident, forest personnel from the Diana and Binnaguri ranges reached the site, and police from Banarhat police station also arrived later.

Following a search operation, the child’s body was recovered from the tea bushes late at night. According to tea garden workers, leopard attacks have been occurring in the area for a long time, but no effective preventive steps have been implemented. The incident triggered panic across the tea estate, with locals expressing concern over repeated leopard movements in residential zones.

Past incidents have been reported in nearby areas. On October 19 last year, a leopard took a fourth-grade student, Sushila Guwala, from the courtyard of her house in Khairkata village under Nagrakata. Her body was later found in the nearby forest. In July of the same year, a similar attack led to the death of a child in Totapara Tea Garden under Banarhat.