DIAT officials said some security personnel spotted a leopard in an area of the campus with dense tree cover on Tuesday night. Security personnel were alerted by the constant barking of the dogs and then they saw a leopard on a tree.The Forest Department has launched a search operation after a leopard was sighted on the campus of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) located at Girinagar in Pune late on Tuesday night.
Officials at the DIAT said that some security personnel spotted a leopard in an area of the campus with very dense tree cover, on Tuesday night.
The security personnel were alerted by the constant barking on the dogs and then saw a leopard on a tree. “The security guards could also manage to capture a video of the leopard getting down from the tree. The security officers subsequently informed the forest department officials.” an officer from the DIAT said.
Deputy Conservator of Forest for Pune Forest Division, Rahul Patil said, “After receiving information from the DIAT officials, our team has been deployed. We have also verified the presence of the leopard based on the scratch marks on the tree and pugmarks on the ground. There is a very dense forest area next to part of the campus where the sighting was reported. Search operation is on.”
Meanwhile directives on movement precautions have been issued for the people on the campus and also to the institutions in the neighbouring areas. DIAT is a key research, development and training facility of the Department of Defence Research and Development of the Ministry of Defence. It is located in Girinagar next to Khadakwasla dam reservoir.
The sighting comes days after a leopard was sighted around 3.30 am inside the campus of the R&DE, a key facility of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) located on Alandi Road in Pune. In spite of the efforts that used camera drones and camera traps, thermal cameras, trap cages and sniffer dogs from the forest department, the leopard could not be rescued.