A leopard, which injured almost 14 people, kept forest officials and police on their toes for more than 12 hours on Friday when it walked into crowded Amapara area of Kanker city, the headquarters of Kanker district in Bastar division.
The panic residents of Kanker heaved a sigh of relief only late on Friday when dozens of forest officials assisted by local police finally managed to tranquilise the leopard. Incidents of leopard intruding into the city limits are very common in Kanker. Recently a leopard was rescued from a Government school, when it had entered its premises and stayed there almost for a day. According to locals, the aggressive leopard tip-toed in Amapara area after midnight on Friday and was leaping from one house to another creating terror among people.
The eye-witnesses told The Pioneer that as the area is thickly populated, whosoever came in its way, the leopard attacked them. The injured, including forest department staff and police personnel, are undergoing treatment at a local hospital. Of the injured, there are three women who have sustained injuries on hands and eyes.
Conservator of forest, Arun Pandey said, “The leopard was turning aggressive due to a large crowd that was present there out of curiosity.” He said, “leopards do stray into towns in Kanker area, which is surrounded with forests and hills. Areas of Antagarh and Bhanupratappur in Kanker district would be having more than 60 leopards.”