The search for the elusive leopards sighted at Nrupatunga Betta (Hill) in Hubballi and at Kavalageri village off Dharwad continued on Saturday without success giving sleepless nights to the Forest Department personnel and also the residents.
While the search with more experts from other districts continued at both places, Minister for Handloom, Textiles and Sugar Shankar Patil Munenakoppa chaired a meeting in Hubballi on Saturday. Along with him Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, former CM Jagadish Shettar, MLA Arvind Bellad and others were present. Nitesh Patil, DC, Dharwad, and Yashpal Ksheersagar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, briefed him. Teams from Gadag, Haveri, Uttar Kannada and the Kali Tiger Reserve had joined the operation and to facilitate the capture, the old building of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Hubballi was being demolished.
On Saturday, no fresh sighting was reported although personnel had intensified the combing operation. It has been more than week now after the first report of leopard sighting in Hubballi and five days have passed after first sighting at Kavalageri village.
