Mumbai: Nothing had prepared 32-year-old Pramod Sambatwad, a resident of Woodland Crest in Andheri’s Marol area, for the shock of his life, when he went for a walk at 9.15 am on Monday.
While walking towards the gate, the watchman informed him that a leopard had entered their compound and told Sambatwad to look under his car. Sambatwad peeped under his car and found the leopard crouching; rattled, he ran all the way to his house.
“I was so terrified on seeing the leopard cub, I nearly wet my pants and rushed home to alert the other residents and forest officials,” said Sambatwad, who later recalled the incident with traces of humour. At 9.30 am, Sambatwad first alerted the watchman, asking him to close all the building gates and not allow anyone to enter or leave the building.
He asked the building staff to go about quietly, so that the animal was not disturbed. He then called forest officials and alerted other residents to remain indoors. After 30 minutes, when the forest officials arrived, the leopard, scared by the activity, ran up the stairs.
Then, followed Operation ‘flush-out’. Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Thane division, says, “After a three-hour rescue operation, the 1.5-year-old sub-adult male leopard cub was tranquillised at around 12 noon.
It did not attack any resident and was visibly scared. It was tranquillised and rushed to the leopard rescue centre at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), where a veterinary medical examination was conducted.”
During the rescue operation, the entire area around Marol, at Andheri (E), was cordoned off. The police had to shut down several narrow lanes, to ensure that it does not escape. The cub is suspected to have entered the residential area of Marol from the Aarey forest.
