After a leopard was sighted in Jadhav Nagar in Belagavi city, the police have asked people in the western part of the city not to venture out of their homes alone.
The animal was sighted on Friday. A construction worker claimed that it had injured him. His mother died of shock after hearing this.
On Friday night, the police went door to door in areas near the TV station and the camp golf court, such as Jadhav Nagar, Hanuman Nagar, Hindalaga road, and Sainik Colony. They asked residents not to go out for night walks, or early morning walks in the area. They also asked them not to venture outside alone and not to send children outside.
The police also asked all shops and houses to share their CCTV camera footage with the police and Forest Department officials to prepare a map of the wild animal’s trail.
The leopard appeared for a brief moment on the CCTV camera of a residential building in Jadhav Nagar. Forest officials are trying to map a route that the animal may have taken, keeping in mind the golf course and the farmlands between the military camp and Hindalaga.
Meanwhile, the search for the elusive wild animal continues. A team of animal catchers have been summoned from Gadag. They have kept three cages in places where the leopard is expected to move around. Forest officials tied stray dogs to lure the leopard into the cages. They have also put up seven camera traps to capture images.
City police, SDRF personnel, and Fire and Emergency Services officers have joined the effort.
Many residents of the city have shared pictures and videos of a wild animal moving around. Forest officers are studying these. Some of these may be from other places, shared online by residents under panic, a forest officer said. City police have appealed to people not to share pictures and videos without verifying them.
Residents had complained of having seen a leopard last year too. But a weeklong search by officers, had led to no evidence.
