Leopards continue to remain elusive in T Narasipura taluk

Mysuru: The elusive leopards that mauled two college students in T Narasipura villages have not just kept foresters on their toes for the past month, but also have left the villagers panic-stricken.
After the second incident at S Kebbehundi on Thursday, the rescue operation was intensified. But the big cats have been elusive — they were neither traced, nor captured in camera traps.
Meanwhile, gram panchayats have been making announcements in villages appealing to the public not to venture out after dusk unless for compelling reasons. They are being advised to move in groups and avoid visiting fields.
Suresh, a villager, said he has not gone to his fields ever since the first incident at Ukkalagere . Paddy and sugarcane are the main crops grown in the region. As leopards usually seek shelter in sugarcane fields, people are avoiding visiting the fields alone, unlike earlier.
Zilla panchayat CEO BR Poornima told STOI that a public announcement about the leopard-rescue operation is being made to ask the public to be cautious.
Chief conservator of forests (Mysuru circle) Malathi Priya M on Saturday said that rescue operation will continue at both the locations — Ukkalagere and S Kebbehundi — and surrounding places till the leopards are trapped.
Cages have been placed with bait to catch them, the CCF added.
Meanwhile, some of the villagers in S Kebbehundi, Vysarajapura, ML Hundi, and surrounding villages have started moving around in groups holding clubs as a precaution after dusk.
Search at Kempanapura
Following a tip-off about the sighting of two leopards, including a cub, by the villagers of Kempanapura, 10km from S Kebbehundi, foresters searched for the big cat there on Saturday.
Priya said a woman from the village claimed to have seen two leopards near a sugarcane field. “We immediately launched a search operation for some two hours with expert teams, but couldn’t find any big cat there,” she added.
After chief minister Basavaraj Bommai announced Rs 15 Lakh compensation for the next of kin of victims of the leopard attack, the CCF said that once the government order is issued in this regard, the compensation amount will be provided to them.