Panic gripped Ranipur Jhal after a leopard was sighted by the people of the Bahadrabad area on Thursday morning. Receiving the information, forest department team rushed to the spot. As crowd gathered police was called, lathicharge was resorted to. The forest guards Gajendra Singh, Ashutosh and O P Singh were deputed at the site with firearms. The foresters fired shots in the air to scare the wild cat out, but the leopard remained hidden in the bushes.
People of the villages which share boundaries with the Rajaji Tiger Reserve have been living under the shadow of fear. The big cats keep straying into the residential areas. It is not the first time that leopards have been sighted in the area where one of them was found stalking on Thursday morning. The frequent sighting has been reported in areas of jagjeetpur. The leopard which had attacked two persons in Jamalpur village last week was trapped by the foresters on Monday.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Haridwar range officer of Rajaji Tiger Reserve D P Uniyal said, “On receiving information from the locals, our forest team reached the site. As people started gathering we informed Bahadrabad police station to disperse the crowd. The leopard hid in the bushes, but we are keeping a constant vigil on the animal. So far, the situation is under control.”