The incident took place this afternoon on the outskirts of Nifandra village, some 60km from here, under Saoli forest range of this district in eastern Maharashtra.
The villagers spotted two leopard cubs in the pipe of a culvert near a farm. They allegedly closed both sides of the pipe with dry shrubs and set them on fire. One of the cubs died of suffocation, while the other was found unconscious by forest officials who reached the spot.