Guwahati, May 8: A man was attacked by a leopard when he tried to take a close-up photo of a leopard at Chabua bypass in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh on Saturday.

The incident took place near Kharjan Tea estate in Chabua.

According to reports, a full grown male leopard was taking refuge inside a culvert at Chabua bypass since morning.

“The man identified as wage labourer (went) to see the leopard and tried to take a close-up photo of the leopard. Suddenly, the leopard attacked the person and injured him. He sustained injuries on his leg,” said a local resident.

The person was coming from Dhakuakhana and after hearing the incident he went to see the leopard and tried to take a close photo of him. The man was chased away by the leopard and attacked him on his leg.

A video which got viral shows that many people went to see the leopard and the leopard was chasing them away.

Meanwhile, a team from Tinsukia forest department came and tranqualised the leopard and taken to Tinsukia.

WTI veterinarian Khanin Changmai said, “After getting information about the leopard, a team from Tinsukia forest reached the spot. We have successfully tranqualised the leopard and taken him to Tinsukia. We have put the leopard into cage and taken him to Tinsukia for health checkup. The leopard will be released into the wild tomorrow (Monday).

“Man-animal conflict has been rising at a alarming rate in Assam. Due to shrinking of forest cover, the conflict has been taking place,” said a forest official.