A factory worker was arrested and two minors were detained for allegedly picking up a leopard cub and shooting videos with it in Surendranagar, forest officers said on Wednesday. Forest officers said that staff of Chotila range in Surendranagar territorial forest division found a leopard cub on the side of state highway 119 near Devsar village on Saturday. While the forest staff was trying to reunite the cub, believed to be around 25 days old, with its mother, they got a tip off that the cub was lifted by three persons, early that morning. Based on the tip off, forest officers on Monday arrested Rohit Sarla (24), a resident of Devsar village, and detained two minor boys. “After lifting the cub, the trio recorded their videos with the cub, shot selfies with it and then shared them on social media. Later on, they rode their bike with the cub and broadcast live their journey with the cub on Instagram. With the cub in their tow, they drove till the gate of a ceramic factory where the accused is working,” Nikunj Parmar, deputy conservator of forests (DCF) of Surendranagar territorial forest division said. Forest officers said that after someone at the factory gate warned the trio about the consequences of picking up a leopard cub, they released the cub at the spot where they found it. “We produced Sarla in a court in Chotila. However, he had deleted videos of the incident from his mobile phone. We didn’t have any evidence. Hence, we didn’t apply for Sarla’s custody,” a forest officer said, adding, “The two juveniles were produced before a juvenile justice board.” Officers further said that the accused mobile has been sent to a forensic science laboratory (FSL).
