Officials found the body of the old man in the forest around 250 metres from his house. This is the second such incident to have occurred in Mahuwa range after a nine-year-old boy had became a leopard’s victim.

According to forest officials, Mavji Choudhary (70) was sleeping outside his house in Mahudi village on Wednesday night. The next morning, on hearing Mavji’s screams, his family members rushed out and were shocked to see blood stains all around and the old man missing from the place.

The family members immediately called the villagers and informed the forest and police departments about the incident. The villagers with the help of forest officials started the search and found the man’s badly mutilated body about 250 metres deep in the forest.

One of the villagers, Ishwar Choudhary, said that 15 days ago a leopard had been spotted in the fields in a nearby village.

Forest department officials have installed two cages in the areas where the leopard was seen earlier.

Mahuwa forest officer Satish Purohit said: “We have come to know that the leopard has become a man-eater. After trapping it, we will hand it over to zoo authorities.”

“We have initiated the proceedure to get the compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh from Forest Reserve Funds to be given to the family members of the victim,” said the official.