Indore:
There is no justice for the leopard rescued from Nayapura village; blind and helpless, he is living his days in a dark corner of the wildlife sanctuary, learning to follow sounds. But, the person who shot him mercilessly with more than 40 shrapnel roams free.
The incident
Divisional Forest Officer Dr Kiran Bisen said the rescued leopard was found to have more than 40 pellets in the head.
"It is clear that someone shot the leopard brutally and repeatedly as a result of which the leopard's eyes are damaged and iron pellets are stuck all over the head," Bisen said.
The leopard rescued from Nayapura village finally underwent CT scan after delay of 2 months and 12 days. Leopard was taken to Van Vihar, Bhopal for the scan.
He became the first leopard in the country to undergo a CT scan. The first-ever CT scan conducted of a wild animal was reported in 2011 when a wild bear had undergone the scan.
As shared by Dr Uttam Yadav, city zoo in-charge, the leopard probably has optic nerve damage due to shots.
The forest department had said that the leopard had been injured due to infighting, ignoring that only his eyes and head were damaged. When the leopard was brought to the zoo, the officials there noticed that he was unable to spot food given to him and they realised that the leopard had lost his eyesight.
As the leopard struggles to live his life, the person who shot the leopard roams free. Forest department has failed to conduct required investigation in over 10 months.
No action taken against accused till date
Raising a complaint in the matter with Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, MP, legal activist Abhijeet Pandey shared, “Investigation of the leopard case found in the injured state of Nayapura in Indore has been going on for almost 7 months, in which the Indore STF is also investigating along with several senior officers of the department.”
He added that after recording several statements, many members of the enquiry committee have completed the investigation of various grounds.
“In addition to the department's deputy ranger in the said subject, about 2 to 4 common people, not only in the circle of doubt but also their role is clear in this episode,” Pandey said. He added that even after investigation is not complete, the accused roams free raising a question on forest department.
“Even after such a big incident, not taking action on any officer or employee of the current day also raises the possibility of undue influence on officials,” Pandey said in his complaint. He added that the incident also proves that if someone goes into the forest shoots and injures wildlife, can roam free as officials are too negligent to take an action.
