Leopard still out of reach of DoF teams

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The Department of Forest (DoF) placed five cages, one each at Ulkanagari, Shambhunagar, Prozone Mall, MSRTC Workshop and Crematorium. The DoF and its rescue team is leaving no stone unturn to trace the whereabouts of the leopard. The last CCTV footage (after leaving of leopard from Prozone Mall) is of 4.19 am on Wednesday from Cidco N-1 sector. Meanwhile, an English medium school situated in Cidco area has declared holiday today.

The leopard was first spotted by an MSEDCL lineman Dutta Dhage. Earlier, DoF was not trusting, but after seeing the CCTV footage, they became active. A rescue team from Junnar was pressed and two cages were placed immediately. Presently, DoF has formed 16 teams to monitor and trace the leopard.

Fake videos getting viral

Many fake videos featuring leopard moving on Beed Bypass, Railway Station, Kabranagar, N-8, Deolai, Ulkanagari Goshala, N-1 Cidco etc were circulating on social media during the whole day.

According to security guard Tukaram Janrao, “ The barking of dogs has surprisingly stopped for the last two days. There is total silence in Cidco N-1 sector.”

Another security guard Sunil Ghorpade adds, “The mobility of citizens on the roads has been reduced. The DoF squad has increased the patrolling.”

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The Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) Suryakant Mankawar said, “The DoF squad has installed trap cameras at the places where cages have been placed.

A team of 71 officials and personnel including seven range forest officers (RFOs), 55 forest guards and foresters, six Eco-battalion jawans and three members of rescue team from Junnar. The patrolling is being done through forming 16 teams.”

The honorary wildlife warden Dr Kishore Pathak

appealed, “ Kindly do not create panic situation by forwarding any fake or old video. It should be stopped. No untoward incident has been taken so far. Kindly upload real videos and photos so that it would be helpful in resolving the issue. DoF is trying its best to catch the straying leopard.”