Lakhimpur Kheri, March 25 -- The natives of Lohra village in Dudhwa buffer zone captured a leopard after it attacked the farmers working in the fields here on Tuesday. The big cat also injured two villagers while being captured. The area where the incident occurred falls under Majhgain range of Dudhwa buffer zone and is in close proximity to the Dudhwa reserved forests. Leopard movement was reported in this area earlier, and the forest officials had obtained permission to cage the animal. Dudhwa buffer zone deputy director Kirti Chaudhary said, "It is not confirmed if the captured leopard is the same big cat sighted earlier." This is the second incident of a leopard being captured by villagers this year. Earlier on Mar 16 in Devipur beat of Dudhwa buffer zone, a villager Ankur had captured a sub-adult leopard from his wheat field and handed it to the forest department. Meanwhile, as per reports from Lohra village, a hamlet of Bela Kalan village panchayat under Pallia kotwali area, some villagers were working in their fields on Tuesday morning when a leopard suddenly emerged and attacked two of them. Panic-stricken villagers overpowered the leopard, tied it to a stick with ropes, and informed the Majhgain range forest officials. Majhgain forest range officer (RO) Ankit Kumar along with his field staff and police officials rushed to the spot with a cage and rescued the leopard, which was found to be a female. Ankit Kumar told HT that the leopard had injured two persons before being captured by the villagers and both were reported to be out of danger. He said the rescued leopard was carried to range headquarters for thorough physical examination by Dudhwa veterinary experts and any further action about its release would be taken by competent authorities after the examination. Meanwhile, deputy director, Dudhwa buffer zone Kirti Chaudhary warned the villagers not to resort to such dangerous activities as it could lead to mishaps.Advising them to be on alert in view of frequent movements of wild animals in the area, she reminded that capturing the wild animals in such a way was an offence and would lead to legal action under wildlife protection act. With frequent movements of big cats near human settlements, the Dudhwa buffer zone has kept the forest officials busy this year. On two occasions, first on Mar 16 and again on Mar 17, a leopard barged into residential houses, causing minor injuries to three persons in Rannagar and Banbirpur villages respectively before being tranquilized and rescued on Mar 17 from Banbirpur house. Dudhwa buffer zone forest teams have been patrolling regularly in the conflict areas to mitigate human-animal conflicts. Eight leopards and one tiger have been captured by buffer zone forest officials since Feb 2. However, movements of big cats are still reported from various parts. Field director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) Dr H Rajamohan told HT that after the harvesting of cane crops, the big cats get no safe hiding spot and they seek shelter thus causing conflict. Deputy director, buffer zone Kirti Chaudhary said villagers living in close proximity of reserved forests would be taken into confidence and asked to cooperate in preventing human-animal conflicts. Besides, patrolling and monitoring in the conflict areas would continue to ensure safety of both humans as well as wild animals....