Leopard spotted on college premises at Lohegaon, search operation underway

On the backdrop of the spotting, the college administration declared a holiday on Monday as a precautionary measure

A leopard was spotted on the campus of RITP College in Wadgaon Shinde near Lohegaon on Sunday evening as well as early morning on Monday. Following the incident, a joint search operation was launched by the Forest department, Fire departments and the RESQ Charitable Trust. Efforts are underway to capture and relocate the leopard and ensure the safety of citizens in the vicinity.

Following the incident, a joint search operation was launched by the Forest department, Fire departments and the RESQ Charitable Trust. (HT PHOTO)

On the backdrop of the spotting, the college administration declared a holiday on Monday as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, the sighting triggered panic among the citizens as well as college students, with locals demanding swift action from the forest department to capture the leopard.

KE Society’s Rajarambapu Institute of Technology Polytechnic (RITP) College in Wadgaon Shinde is adjoining the forest area and a few citizens contacted authorities concerned following the spotting of the animal on the college campus.

Nilesh Mahajan, public relations officer (PRO), Fire Department said,” On Monday morning our team spotted the leopard moving inside the dense vegetation on college premises. After spotting the leopard on Sunday evening the school immediately declared a holiday for students, which helped prevent possible mishap. The team is working on the ground and the animal will be captured soon.”

Raj Varak, range forest officer for the Lohegaon area said,” The forest team, fire officer and the members of RESQ organisation are present on the ground and they are monitoring the leopard movement constantly. As of now, the leopard has shifted inside the forest area, which is a passing route for the animal.”

The area has a history of leopard presence. Earlier too, a leopard which had fallen into the well was rescued from this locality. The dense forest patch in this area provides a safe passage for wildlife movement. Occasionally they come outside in search of food as the stray dog population is higher in this area or sometimes, they come outside by mistake, Varak added.