BENGALURU: Two days after a leopard strayed into a school in Varthur, two more big cats were sighted in the vicinity sending residents into a tizzy on Tuesday night. The leopards were trying to enter an apartment, said residents.
There are chances that the leopards may have slipped back into the nearby forests or are lying low.
According to a resident, “Two leopards which came from the Nilgiri grove behind Vibgyor school tried to enter Samitha Greenwoods apartment in the vicinity at around 9.30 pm. Varthur police station was immediately alerted. Residents also kept themselves confined in their homes by closing all doors. Some also burst firecrackers to frighten them away.”
Forest Department officials requested people not to panic and also not to move out. Vehicles plying on the roads were diverted while those parked in the area were asked to switch off all lights. The leopards were captured by a CCTV camera installed in an apartment and Police and Forest Departments were alerted.
A Varthur police inspector said, “We have deployed two police sub-inspectors on patrolling and formed a team of other police personnel too. We have also advised residents not to step out of their homes at night. Until the leopard is trapped, the patrolling in the area will continue. Meanwhile, we have also cordoned off the spot where the leopards were sighted.”
Santosh Kumar, executive director, Bannerghatta Biological Park said, “We have sent a team of doctors and forest officials to the locality. However, we do not prefer to use tranquilisers in the night as it may pose a danger to the leopard. It is hard to tranquilise the animal as we may not get the right position.”
Forest official Ganesh who was at the spot said, “There may be chances of other leopards returning to the spot. They can easily sense which animal was at the place for a certain period of time.”
3 DAYS, 3 LEOPARDS