Shirur leopard attack: Sharpshooter team on site, leopard yet to be traced
Eight additional trap cages were installed to capture the animal, in addition to the 35 already in place
A six-member team of sharpshooters – that earlier participated in a leopard elimination operation in Solapur district – arrived in Junnar Monday morning after the Maharashtra forest department issued an emergency shoot-at-sight order against the leopard that killed a 13-year-old boy in Shirur taluka on Sunday.
The team from Pune-based Rana’s Rifle Club, which works in coordination with the forest department, reached Pimparkhed village at around 11 am on Monday and inspected the attack site and surrounding area. The team identified pugmarks of at least three leopards, including a female leopard, near the attack site. Eight additional trap cages were installed to capture the animal, in addition to the 35 already in place.
About the operation, sharpshooter and member of the team, Chandrakant Mandlik, said, “We carried out a detailed inspection today, and our observations suggest that the three recent incidents involved three different leopards. We are now working on the next plan of action. Our first priority will be to capture the leopards, and if that fails, we will attempt to tranquilise them. Killing will remain our last resort, only if the situation demands it. The situation here is critical, and the leopard population density is far higher than expected.”
Nilkanth Gavhane, range forest officer, Shirur, said, “The team has started monitoring the leopard’s movement and will intensify the operation on Tuesday with the installation of trap cameras.”
The team has arrived on the back of an emergency shoot-at-sight order issued by the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) late Sunday night against the leopard that killed Rohan Vilas Bombe, 13, in Pimparkhed village, Junnar taluka on Sunday.
Rohan Bombe, was attacked at around 3.45 pm on Sunday while returning home. This was the second fatal leopard attack in Pimparkhed village within a span of 20 days and the fifth such death in Junnar division since April this year.
Following the incident, angry villagers torched a forest department vehicle and vandalised the Quick Response Team (QRT) base camp, blocking officials from entering the area for several hours. Police were later deployed to restore order.
Protests continued through Monday across Shirur and Junnar tehsils, with demonstrators blocking the Pune–Nashik highway near Manchar and demanding that the district collector visit the site. They called for the region to be declared ‘leopard-free’.
Shirur MP Amol Kolhe met the protesters at Manchar and said, “It is painful to see our people dying in leopard attacks. I am constantly following up with the state and central authorities for urgent action. The people of Junnar and Shirur are suffering, and this region must become leopard-free.”
Kolhe also spoke to forest minister Ganesh Naik, who assured that an emergency meeting with senior officials, public representatives, and district authorities has been called to decide the next course of action.
Protests hamper standard investigation protocols
According to a senior forest department official, the ongoing protests have disrupted standard investigation protocols including DNA sampling and detailed pugmark identification that are essential for verifying the animal/s involved and for processing compensation for the victim’s family.
No cremation performed even after over 24 hours
More than 24 hours since the incident, the deceased had not been cremated till late Monday evening. The villagers refused to conduct the last rites until either the district collector or the forest minister personally visited their village.
According to forest officials, the body was received at around 2 am on Monday after which the post-mortem examination was conducted. However, the family members and villagers refused to accept the body, stating that it would not be cremated until the district collector or the forests minister visited their village in person. The body is currently being preserved in an ice box kept inside an ambulance parked within the premises of the rural hospital.
