Residents of Parol village near the Mullanpur Air Force Station have been gripped by fear after repeated sightings of a leopard that was first spotted on June 22; further accentuated when the wild animal attacked a goat on Tuesday afternoon. The incident occurred when a village resident had taken his cattle for grazing to the forest that surrounds the area. Barely two kilometers from Parol is a check dam that leads to the dense forests. Village residents usually take their cattle to graze there. According to Malkiat Singh whose cattle was attacked,he heard a scream at some distance from the grazing spot but before he reached the spot,the leopard had left the goat injured and escaped. The goat has sustained severe injuries on the neck. Earlier we thought that it is just a rumour. But now when our people have seen it there is no scope for doubt, said Kulvinder Singh,a Parol resident. Ramasra,another resident of the village claims to have seen two leopards. The attack has also led to speculation on the number of animals,apart from disrupting daily routine. We used to roam freely in the village till late night but now we are really scared. We refuse to come out of our houses after the sun set, said Jasvindar Singh. The village elders have also restrained children from moving out of their homes. Children usually go to play near the dam. Earlier we never stopped them because there was nothing to fear. Now when we know that there is a wild animal roaming freely we cannot take a chance, said Ajaib Singh,resident of the same village. It is really scary to know that a wild animal is roaming in our surroundings but when we approached the local leaders they dismissed us by saying that we were lying and creating rumours to disrupt the panchayat election taking place today,said a village resident. Paramjet Singh,sarpanch of Parol village said: When we learnt about the incident we rang up the forest department helpline. Eight personnel from forest department came here at around midnight and went to the forests to track the animal. We hope that they catch it soon. The forest department and the Air Force have now began tracking the leopard. Talking to the Chandigarh Newsline,Sunil Kumar,Range Forest Officer (Mohali),said: We have installed a trap camera and a censor camera in the Air Force Station. We were at Parol on Tuesday night and surveyed the area. We will now set up a cage in the forest near the village on Thursday.
