VIVEK DESH PANDE NAGPUR,OCTOBER A body found in Junona village in Chandrapur close to where a woman was killed by a leopard on September 22 could be that of a missing youth. He appears to have been killed five days before the 52year-old woman was mauled to death. Prashant Bharsagade (19) had been missing since September 17. His parents, who presumed he might have gone to Hyderabad where he works as a labourer, filed a missing complaint only on Monday. On Tuesday, some women found the decomposed body and a few clothes at the spot. Police reached the spot along with Prashant's parents who confirmed the clothes were Prashant's. It is being believed that the leopard killed Prashant and the woman five days later. "We suspect it's the work of the same leopard. We can confirm it only after the post-mortem report is received," Deputy Conservator of Forest, Central Chandrapur, Rama Rao told The Indian Express. But investigators are wondering that if he was killed on September 17, why hadn't anybody noticed any foul smell when the people were chasing away a leopard and its cub five days later at a spot hardly 100 metre away. The female leopard had killed Leelabai Gedam close to a highway in thee forest area where she and two other women had gone to collect firewood. The leopard and one of her two cubs had sat near the body and marched menacingly towards the crowd that tried to scare them away. The leopard was finally captured and released 25 km away. Now, the residents of Junona are scared. "We released the leopard about 25 km away after the attack on September 22. But her two cubs are still here and are not falling into the traps. They have become very aggressive," Rao said. In fact, wildlife activistswere upset when the leopard was being moved. "How can she be separated from her cubs," asked one. 'The cubs and the mother would start behaving erratically;' they had said. A couple of months ago a leopard from the same forest had strayed into a house on the outskirts of Chandrapur city. A few days ago, a leopard had entered a house in a village. It was trapped by the forest officials and died before the officials could shift it. As many as 39 people are reported to have been killed in the past 33 months around the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR).