Haridwar, April 5 -- The forest department has issued a shoot-to-kill order as a last resort for a suspected man-eater leopard in Pokhra block of Pauri Garhwal, officials said on Saturday, following the killing of a four-year-old girl earlier this week. The decision comes after the leopard allegedly killed Drishti (4) in Bhatkot village on Thursday night. The child was having dinner with her family near the terrace door when the leopard attacked her and dragged her away. Her body was found about 2 km from the house after a search by family members, villagers and forest teams. Divisional forest officer (DFO) Pauri, Mahatim Yadav, said the chief wildlife warden has directed officials to first attempt to capture the animal using tranquillisers, and to eliminate it only as a last resort, keeping public safety in mind. "The first step will be to tranquillise the leopard. Permission to shoot has been granted only as a last resort under Section 11(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The order will remain valid for one month, subject to capture or elimination of the animal," Yadav said. He added that three iron cages and around 20 trap cameras have been installed in the area. Two licensed shooters along with around 30 forest personnel have been deployed in the sensitive Pokhra block. Meanwhile, the district administration has ordered the closure of around a dozen schools and anganwadi centres in affected villages of Pokhra and adjoining Bironkhal block till April 6 as a precautionary measure. Officials said incidents of human-wildlife conflict have been rising in the area. In December last year, a 36-year-old woman, Kanchan Devi, was injured in a leopard attack in Devradi village of the same block....