A dramatic five-hour cat and mouse chase finally ended in a man-eating leopard being captured by the forest department in Maharashtra's Nashik.
A total of nine people were injured in the incident resulting in the leopard chase that also saw two forest department personnel being injured. The rest of the injured were local residents.
The injured are being treated in hospital in the leopard attack is ongoing. The injuries have been reported from Nashik's Mahatma Nagar area. Some of the injured suffered deep cuts on their back with clear markings of leopard paws. Some also suffered injuries on their hands and faces.
Visuals captured on CCTV footage show the leopard moving around a residential area as the forest department tries to tranquilize the animal to prevent human casualties. Visuals also showed a forest department official with injuries on his face being led away from the area.
Finally, after hours, the leopard was tranquilized and carried away on a makeshift stretcher. A crowd is also seen gathering and jostling around the tranquilized animal with many also trying to capture photographs with their mobile phones.
Speaking from his hospital bed, an injured person told NDTV, " I was returning home from work, and I heard people shouting that a leopard has come. The leopard suddenly attacked, and it hit me with its paw."
Another injured person said, "I had gone to see what was going on and it attacked me. The incident happened around 3:00pm." A woman who was also injured in the leopard attack said, "The leopard suddenly attacked me from behind. I have a deep wound on my hand."
In another incident, a leopard pounced on a two-wheeler on Wednesday evening at Otur village in Junnar taluka in neighbouring Pune district. The CCTV video of this incident has gone viral on social media.
In Maharashtra's Ahilyanagar district, a 9-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard in Islak village, near Ahilyanagar town, leaving him seriously injured.
Rajveer Kotkar was attacked in front of his home around 6:30 pm and the child suffered serious injuries to his neck and chest in the leopard attack. He was immediately admitted to a private hospital for treatment.
As the leopard attacked the boy, his father Rajveer's father started the car and honked, prompting the leopard to flee.
This is the second major incident in the area in two days. Two days ago, a five-year-old girl was killed in a leopard attack in Kharekerjune, a village near Islak village.
Given the frequent incidents of leopard attacks, the state government has approved ₹11.25 crore to implement immediate rescue and safety measures. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said the move will prevent further human casualties and ensure peaceful coexistence between residents and wildlife.
The forest department has been tasked with setting up 20 specialized rescue teams equipped with 500 cages, 20 tranquilizing guns, 500 trap cameras, 250 live cameras, and other advanced equipment that is required to deal with instances of man-animal conflicts which have seen a sharp rise in the Nashik-Pune area .The teams will have trained shooters, rescuers, and medical support staff who will be equipped with rescue vehicles and surveillance systems to track the movement of leopards in human settlements.
