Barwala: Villagers ‘sight’ leopard, officials say rumour

They reached the spot and found pug marks in the area following which the wildlife department was informed.

Pug marks found near Tangri river in Jalauli village in Panchkula on Saturday. (Source: Express photo by Jaipal Singh)

Panic gripped Jaloli village near Barwala on Saturday after a few villagers claimed to have sighted a leopard and her two cubs sitting on the bank of a stream in the forest area near the village, putting the district police and wildlife authorities on high alert. However, wildlife officials later rubbished the alleged sighting as a false alarm.

According to the Jaloli residents, a few revenue officials were working near the village in the morning when the animal was sighted. “Four revenue officials were marking the forest area beside the village for the construction of dairies here and I was also present with them.
Around 10:30 am, we first spotted some pug marks in the area as the earth was wet due to rain, and then all of us clearly saw a leopard sitting at the bank of Dangri stream along with her two cubs. Stupefied, we looked at the leopard for a few minutes, and ran away.

“We informed the police, and within minutes, officials armed with rifles arrived here. Later, senior police officials and district-level officers arrived here along with wildlife officials,” said Jasmer Singh, the village numberdar, adding that it was not a false alarm as even revenue officials had spotted the animal. The villagers were afraid to venture out into their fields.

According to the police, they reached the spot and found pug marks in the area following which the wildlife department was informed. However, wildlife officials said the pug marks belonged to a bitch.

“These days, residents are going overboard with false alarm. First, a video went viral, then somebody claimed to have spotted a leopard near the gymkhana and now this sighting. In today’s incident, officials went to the spot and ruled out the sighting of a leopard. It has clearly been established that it was a hoax call. The public must understand that we have limited staff and cannot be present everywhere. I appeal to the residents to first verify the presence of a leopard, and not panic. Some mischievous elements are spreading false rumours, it seems,” said Dr Amarinder Kaur, chief wildlife warden.

Recently, a leopard attacked four persons in a village near Raipur Rani following which several alleged sightings have been reported from Panchkula district, including a video of a lion that went viral but turned out to be from another part of the country.

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