A leopard that attacked a devotee at Someswara Swamy Temple in Kuppam town on August 30 continues to be elusive even after a week, leaving the frantic search taken up by officials futile. The man received a scratch on his leg in the attack.
The uncertainty has made the people residing in areas on the outskirts of Kuppam avoid moving alone at night, while the two-wheeler riders feel on the edge after dusk.
Some locals are coming up with versions of sighting the big cat again in the surrounding bushes and hearing its growls. The 70-year-old priest, who claimed to have seen the animal, keeps repeating to the visiting devotees his “rare experience” of watching the leopard in action.
Forest Range Officer (Kuppam) Madan Mohan Reddy reiterated that the pugmarks found on the temple premises were certainly that of a leopard.
‘Surveillance in place’
“The versions of the injured devotee, his father(who was also present at the time of the attack), and the priests were verified to be authentic. During the last week, we did everything to trace the elusive leopard along the isolated stretches and bushy terrain close to the temple. Cracker bombs were blasted along paths and at suspected hideouts of the animal. Surveillance was in place from dusk to dawn with our personnel,” he said.
“We strongly suspect that the leopard might have entered the human habitation in Kuppam while chasing a stray dog,” he continued, cautioning people of the residential areas on the outskirts against going out at night.
Though the Kuppam forest range has a healthy population of leopards, the possibility of leopards straying into human habitations is rare, he said. But, recently, many cattle killings were reported.
Meanwhile, some residents at Journalists’ Colony in Kuppam said that they had seen a jungle cat moving in their area a couple of days ago. “At dusk, the jungle cat is prone to be mistaken for a young leopard. After its arrival, many pet chickens went missing,” said resident Lakshmi Narayana.
