An elderly woman in Alipurduar district was killed in a suspected leopard attack on Sunday night.

The animal dragged her away into a bush and severed her head from torso. Police recovered both and sent them for post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of her death.

Sources said Sarojini Roy, 65, from Bangkandi under Falakata police station, went to a hand pump near her house to clean utensils after dinner. Suddenly, a wild animal, suspected to be a leopard, dragged her to a bush. The woman screamed, prompting neighbours to rush out but they could not find her.

They informed the Jateswar police outpost and the Dalgaon forest range. Amid incessant rain, cops and foresters started searching for her. Around 11.30pm, her beheaded body was spotted inside a bush, some 50 metres away from her home. Her head was found 100 metres from the bush on Monday morning near the Tatasi stream.

The foresters also found pugmarks of a leopard near the body. Locals have demanded that the forest department cage the leopard so that it can be released into the wild.

Ujjwal Ghosh, the additional principal chief conservator of forests (north), said preliminary probe suggested a leopard attack and they were waiting for the woman's post-mortem report for its confirmation.