CHITTOOR: Tension prevailed at Ponnetipalem in Madanapalle mandal on Friday following a protest by villagers against the arrest of locals in connection with the death of a pregnant leopard after getting trapped in a snare.
The leopard, which got trapped in the snare on Tuesday, succumbed to injuries on Wednesday. The leopard death has sparked an outrage. Venkataramana Reddy, Reddeppa Reddy and Gangadhar were arrested in this connection, and lodged in sub-jail.
On Friday morning, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest PV Chalapathi Rao, Chief Conservator of Forest C Selvam, and police officials visited the spot to probe the matter. While returning to Madanapalle, the officials were stopped by irate villagers of Ponnetipalem. The family members of the arrested blocked the convoy of the forest officials, and staged a protest.
They raised slogans against the police alleging arrest of innocent persons in connection with the leopard death. They blamed the officials for neglect, which led to the leopard’s death, and demanded the release of the arrested.
Villagers seek Dy CM’s intervention; probe on
A villager challenged the officials by saying, “I will swear on the Bhagavad Gita that our people did nothing wrong. Can you do the same?” Another questioned, “If the leopard died due to negligence of officials, is it fair to arrest innocent farmers?”
The villagers urged Deputy Chief Minister (Environment and Forest) Pawan Kalyan to respond swiftly, demanding, “Don’t sacrifice innocents, arrest the real culprits.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy CM had ordered a comprehensive investigation into the death of the leopard. Chalapathi Rao has been appointed as the inquiry officer. Additionally, Forest Department Advisor Mallikarjuna Rao has been directed to monitor the investigation.
Pawan reviewed preliminary reports from the ground-level forest officials, which confirmed that the leopard struggled in the snare for hours before succumbing. The postmortem revealed the presence of two fetuses in its womb. Expressing deep concern over the incident, the Deputy Chief Minister emphasised the need for increased vigilance in the forest and adjacent villages to prevent poaching of wild animals.