Guwahati, Oct 17 (IANS): A leopard was beaten to death in Assam's Golaghat district after it attacked three villagers, officials said. The incident happened on Saturday at Dusutimukh village in the Khumtai area of the district.

The villagers claimed that the leopard was causing terror for the last few days and on Saturday it attacked three locals while they were going to a paddy field to feed their cattle.

The injured persons have been identified as Bitopan Doley (15), Lalit Doley (45) and Malay Medak (20).

According to the forest department, the officials went to the village to catch the leopard but before that, a few villagers launched an attack on the animal with machete, axe and sticks, which caused the death of the leopard.

Later, the forest officials recovered the carcass of the leopard.

The body of the dead leopard has been sent for post-mortem to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC).

Notably, a few days ago, another leopard had caused rampage in the Mahbandha tea estate in Jorhat district. That time, following complaints by the locals, the forest department was able to capture the leopard and release it into the forest.