Hubballi: The forest department recently captured a leopard that was a cause of concern for people in the Hubballi airport area for the past one-and-a-half months, but their fear increased after another leopard was spotted in Sherewad village of the taluk.On Tuesday, the leopard was seen on the farm of legislative council speaker Basavaraj Horatti. Footage of a leopard roaming in the compound near the cattle shed on Horatti’s farm was captured on CCTV and mobile cameras, and went viral on social media.
Siddappa Hanni, former vice-president of Sherewad gram panchayat, confirmed that the leopard was spotted in Sherewad village, and later informed the forest department about it. The forest department placed a cage to capture it, and the leopard was photographed by a CCTV camera installed there. We made an announcement that people should not sleep outside at night, and should not walk alone in Sherewad and surrounding villages, Hanni said. RS Uppar, range forest officer, said that a leopard was spotted in Sherewad village last week, but they did not have any proof that a leopard was spotted on Horatti’s farm. The leopard video was fake, he said.Residents of Varur village and surrounding areas are afraid to come out of their houses at night.In the wake of this incident, locals demanded a permanent solution to the problem, and demanded that the leopard be captured and shifted to a safe place as soon as possible.
