Overview

• The three-year-old was dragged from his home’s verandah around 10 am in Gandhu Jhala and disappeared into nearby sugarcane fields.
• Forest teams and villagers are conducting an extensive search with drones and trap cameras, and only bloodstains have been recovered for forensic testing.
• Authorities are reassessing the species involved, with the divisional forest officer citing the size and method of the assault as consistent with a leopard.
• Bahraich has reported two child deaths and several injuries from similar incidents in the past two weeks, intensifying concern in affected villages.
• Residents accuse officials of mishandling the crisis as a local MLA visits the family, demands ₹50 lakh compensation, and experts link the surge in attacks to flooding and habitat erosion along the Ghaghra River.