Residents say leopard spotted again; officials deny

Forest officials said none of the trap cameras, cages or CCTV cameras recorded any evidence of the animal moving about. The forest department team still stationed at the society will conduct a final review of the situation on Saturday

Residents of Ajnara Le Garden society in Greater Noida said the maintenance staff has spotted the leopard again in the basement during their regular cleaning activities on Tuesday evening.

Two trap cages and two trap cameras were left installed near the basement entrance of the under-construction towerts at Ajnara Le Garden society in Greater Noida last week. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

After reports of a leopard being seen by several residents throughout last week, the forest department had launched a search and rescue operation that lasted five days and ended on Saturday morning. The department had called in teams from Meerut, Agra and Ghaziabad to capture the leopard. However, there was no trace of the animal and the search operation was called off on Saturday.

However, one forest team and two trap cages and two trap cameras were left installed near the basement entrance where the leopard was spotted earlier but they refuted claims of a fresh sighting.

Residents, meanwhile, protested that sufficient efforts were not made by the forest teams to locate the animal and said the leopard was seen again on Tuesday.

“During cleaning of the basement, one of the maintenance staff reported seeing the leopard again. But our maintenance team as well as forest department officials have refuted the claims. Naturally, all residents are worried about their safety,” said Mukesh Gupta, a resident of Le Garden society.

Residents added that it is likely that the leopard had hunted recently and was able to hide in the dark basement without needing to venture out for food. They fear that the animal may venture out soon and attack them.

Forest officials said none of the trap cameras, cages or CCTV cameras recorded any evidence of the animal moving about. The forest department team still stationed at the society will conduct a final review of the situation on Saturday.

“The trap cameras and CCTV cameras are functional and we are monitoring the feed. However, there has been no evidence at all in the past one week. Residents seem to be panicking needlessly; no other staff saw the leopard during cleaning,” said PK Srivastava, divisional forest officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.

He said after the forest team checked the area several times, the developer was told to get the entire basement cleaned to ensure that animals do not get attracted to the waste.

“Once the basement is cleaned, we will check again. A final review will be done on Saturday to decide whether the forest team, trap cameras and trap cages have to be kept longer at the society,” said the DFO.