E-Paper
Four-year-old dies in a leopard attack in Shirur, eighth fatality in district since March
The incident occurred in an area just one and half kilometres away from the earlier attack site in the same village in which Vansh Singh, a seven-year-old boy killed in a similar attack on October 19
Shivtej Samadhan Tembhekar, a Four-year-old boy died in a leopard attack at Tembhekar Vasti in Mandavgan Farata village of Shirur tehsil on November 15. This was the eighth human death due to the leopard attack in the Pune district since March this year. In this gruesome attack by the big cat, the boy’s head was separated from his body.
The incident occurred in an area just one and half kilometres away from the earlier attack site in the same village in which Vansh Singh, a seven-year-old boy killed in a similar attack on October 19. The forest department confirmed the death due to a leopard attack and all standard operating procedures were followed after the incident was reported.
As per the information shared by the Junnar Forest department, Shivtej along with his parents came to the village from Pune to celebrate Diwali. At the time of the incident, he was playing in front of the house close to a sugarcane field. At that time a leopard hidden in the field came out and attacked Shivtej, misidentifying him as prey. Seeing the leopard attacking the child, his grandfather Pandurang Tembhekar shouted and tried to counter the leopard. However, the leopard dragged the boy around 400 metres inside the sugarcane field. Listening to the grandfather’s voice the family members and neighbours rushed to the incident site. Soon the Police and forest officials were alerted about the incident.
When the team of forest officials reached the spot, they searched the area, the inspection was carried out, and the leopard’s presence was confirmed by the forest officials. The dead body was later sent to the Shirur hospital for post martem.
This incident angered the villagers and forest officials had to face the anger as villagers claimed that the forest team reached the spot late despite informing them on time. A senior forest official on the other hand said the local officials reached the spot soon after receiving the information. However, it took time for senior officials to reach the spot considering the distance between the Junnar officer and the incident site.
Speaking about the measures taken by the forest department, Smita Rajhans, assistant conservator of forest, Junnar Forest department said, “ We launched a search operation for the wild animal in Mandavgan Farata village, and 22 cages and 10 camera traps were installed as part of the operation. Leopard activities are being tracked through thermal drones. On the night of the incident, we did not find any leopard activity in the area however, further tracking will be carried out for the next two to three days.”
Amol Satpute, deputy conservator of forest, Junnar Forest department visited the incident site on November 16. In a Gramsabha held at the village, Satpute interacted with villagers.
The absence of electricity major reason for leopard attacks
The Tembhekar Vasti area does not have a residential electricity supply, and all the households rely on agricultural power supply. The area faces 12 hours of power cuts on a daily basis. On the day of the incident too there was no electricity from 7 am. At the time of the incident too, there was no electricity supply in the area which was said to have led to this fatal incident. Expressing her grief Sunita Tembhekar, mother of Shivtej said, “It was due to darkness, I lost my son. If we could get the electricity just an hour before, my son would be alive today.”
Not a single leopard captured since the last attack
After the last attack occurred on October 18, the forest department initially installed 12 cages and 6 camera traps at various locations in the village. However, despite the higher presence and time-to-time leopard sightings by the villagers, not a single leopard has been captured in the cages installed in this area. Till the recent incident, 8 cages were active in Mandavgan Farata village and now another 22 cages have been installed. The Forest Department is now focusing on the many leopards captured in the village.
