Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh): A group of villagers opened fire and pelted stones at the Cheetah Tracking team of Kuno National Park, mistaking them for robbers in Shivpuri district on wee hours of Friday.
Four forest workers were injured in the incident. They are reported to be undergoing medical treatment at Pohri Hospital.
The team had reached the forest in Pohri area while tracing the female cheetah Asha who fled her enclosure. Since it was 4am and dark outside, villagers misunderstood them as robbers and started pelting stones on them and even opened fire.
An FIR was lodged at the Pohri police station.
According to DFO Kuno Prakash Kumar Verma, the female cheetah Asha had left the limits of the national park on Thursday evening and reached the forest of Pohri in Shivpuri district. A 4-member tracking team was sent to rescue her. Meanwhile, around 4 am on Friday, villagers near Bhurikheda stopped the tracking team and started questioning them. When they told they were there to rescue Cheetah, they did not listen. Mistaking them as robbers, the villagers attacked them.
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