Nauwa (Rajasthan), Oct 24 : The villagers of Nauwa in Rajasthan are alleging that lackadaisical attitude of the ill-equipped forest department officials led to the death of a leopard, who in spite of being rescued from a 25 feet well died here on Tuesday.

The rescuers had tied a rope around the leopard’s body, which later slipped and formed a noose around its neck that proved fatal for the big cat.

However, the Forest Department justified tying the leopard with the rope.

"The leopard fell into the well which had water. So we did not tranquilise it. Had we done so, it might have drowned. So we tied a rope around the body and pulled it out," said Chaman Singh, Official of the Forest Department.