As the sun sets, people residing in Mookkenpetty on the eastern-most tip of Kottayam are locking up themselves in their homes and their cattle in safe shelters.
Since the past few days days, this high-range settlement has been gripped by the fear of a straying leopard.
While some of the villagers here are claimed to have spotted the animal directly along the forest fringes, the Forest department is yet to confirm the animal’s presence. The department, however, was forced to enhance surveillance on these villages after an unidentified wild animal began preying on the livestock here.
