Dogs, drones brought in but leopard remains elusive in Karnataka’s Belagavi, schools switch to online classes

A video of the leopard crossing the Club Road near the military area, shot by a bus driver, was circulated widely on social media Monday.

The combing operations to trap the leopard sighted within the city limits of Belagavi are still going on, said officials. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana for representation)

The combing operations to trap the leopard sighted within the city limits of Belagavi are still going on, said officials. District commissioner Nitesh Patil asked the 22 schools, which were given a holiday Monday, to continue with online classes.

Meanwhile, 200 personnel from the forest and the police department continued the operations to capture the leopard Monday night.

The police brought 20 dogs and drones to locate the leopard. Forest department sources said that the elephants from the Sakrebailu camp near Shivamogga will be brought to help the staff in locating the leopard.

Forest Minister Umesh Katti told the media: “The leopard will be caught soon. The forest department is doing the necessary (steps). Shooters are also accompanying officials deployed to trap the leopard.”

A video of the leopard crossing the Club Road near the military area, shot by a bus driver, was circulated widely on social media Monday.

The leopard was first spotted on August 5 when it attacked two construction workers in Jadhav Nagar. While the forest department set up camera traps and cages to nab the animal, the efforts have remained futile. The department earlier stated that the leopard escaped into the golf course on August 8. As a precautionary step, the schools were closed from August 8 to 17.

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