Wednesday, 28 FEBRUARY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Forest department has stepped up efforts to capture or kill the leopard responsible for killing a 10-year-old boy in the Malsi range of Dehradun forest division on February 25. A departmental team is camping and patrolling in the area while cages have also been placed to capture the leopard. Officials informed that a team under the sub divisional officer Anil Singh Rawat has been deployed along with a tranquiliser gun and a firearm in the area to either tranquilise or kill the leopard. Camera traps have also been set up in the area and a drone is also being used to track the movements of the big cat. Earlier on Monday night, senior officials including the chief conservator of forests (Garhwal) Naresh Kumar, Shivalik circle conservator of forests Rajeev Dhiman and Dehradun divisional forest officer Nitish Mani Tripathi also patrolled the area along with the departmental team while also issuing necessary instructions to the personnel. The department’s team which has been deployed in the area since the night of February 25 is camping and patrolling as part of efforts to track and capture the leopard. Meanwhile, Musoorie MLA and cabinet minister Ganesh Joshi presented a cheque for Rs six lakh as ex-gratia to the family of the boy killed by the leopard.
It will be recalled that chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had summoned departmental officials to his office in the Vidhan Sabha on Monday following this incident. He had pulled up the officials and directed them to take effective action to ensure that there is no loss of human life in human-wildlife conflict. The chief wildlife warden has issued orders permitting the shooting of the leopard as a last resort if attempts to capture it are unsuccessful.
