Chandrapur, Oct. 18 -- A nine-year-old boy was injured after a leopard pounced on him and dragged him away while he was part of a group of pilgrims travelling to a temple in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, officials said on Sunday.

The child was traced in bushes near the attack site after hundreds of people joined police and forest department personnel in a search operation.

He was rescued shortly after midnight and rushed to hospital with a severe neck injury, officials said.

The boy, a resident of Hyderabad, was travelling with a group from Ballarpur town to the Mata Mahakali temple in Chandrapur city late on Saturday night.

While walking alongside a neighbour near Visapur toll naka, he was suddenly attacked by the leopard, which d...