MYSURU The leopard which killed a 11-year-old boy at Horalahalli in T. Narsipur taluk on Saturday was trapped on Thursday, providing reprieve to people of the region.
Chief Conservator of Forests Malathi Priya said prima facie it appeared to be the same leopard that had killed the boy, Jayanth, a few days ago. She said the Forest Department had installed camera traps around the spot where the boy’s body was found, and the leopard was camera trapped at the spot on Wednesday.
“The same leopard has now been trapped in a cage and captured as evident in the rosette pattern which matched and has been verified,” said Ms. Priya. It is five years old and the authorities believe it could be the same leopard which not only killed the boy but also Siddamma, a few days earlier. The distance between Horalahalli, where Jayanth was killed, and Kannayakanhalli, where Siddamma died last Friday, is about 1.5 km. But in case of Kannayakanahalli, the Forest department does not have any camera trap images and the deduction is based on distance.
Samples sent for tests
Meanwhile, Mahesh Kumar, DCF, said scat samples were being sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, to ascertain scientifically whether the animal had preyed on humans.
Not withstanding the capture of the leopard, the nearly 130-strong force deployed at T. Narsipur will continue their monitoring as the authorities are getting frequent calls about leopard sightings from the villages.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said a directive would be issued to constitute a leopard task force on the lines of the Elephant Task Force, and the authorities were awaiting orders for its formalisation.
Tense situation
The Forest Department staff were surrounded by villagers who wanted the leopard to be killed on the spot. This led to tension in the area and the authorities struggled for nearly five hours to convince the locals not to take law in their own hands. After a long argument, the villagers relented and the animal was shifted to Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru.
