CHANDIGARH: One person was killed and five others injured after a leopard carried out a series of attacks at three different locations in the Balh Ghati area of Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district on Tuesday morning before being shot dead by locals, officials said.

The leopard attacked people in Chandiyal, Bhadyal and Malwana villages, triggering panic among residents. According to officials, the animal first struck at Chandiyal, after which it moved to Bhadyal, injuring several people, and finally reached Malwana village, where it mauled a 40-year-old man, Balveer Singh, resulting in his death.

Singh, a resident of Bholi village, was a migrant worker living in Mandi and had come to Malwana to visit relatives. All those attacked sustained paw-related injuries and were immediately shifted to hospital, where doctors described their condition as stable.

Sources said forest department teams were rushed to the affected villages soon after the first alerts were received. As panic and chaos gripped the area, villagers reportedly came out of their homes armed with sticks and sharp implements in an attempt to protect themselves.