An 11-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard in Umberkon village, Igatpuri taluka, on Thursday evening. When forest department officials and staff arrived on Friday morning to install a cage, the leopard attacked six forest guards and six villagers during the rescue operation.
Among the injured were villagers Karthik Mohan Sarukte (25), Satish Vishnu Sarukte (37), Kisan Govind Sarukte (45), Yash Khandu Borade (18), Shravan Bhima Chimte (25), and Rajaram Ramdas Shinde (31). Additionally, forest personnel including Faiz Ali Jaffer Ali Syed (30), Bhausaheb Ganpat Rao (51), Gorakh Devram Bagul (49), Vitthal Pundalik Gawande (51), Chintaman Devram Gadar (33), and Kailas Laxman Potinde (34) were admitted to Ghoti Government Hospital for treatment.
MLA of Igatpuri, Hiraman Khoskar, and tribal leader Lucky Jadhav visited the hospital to meet the injured individuals.
The incident occurred when 11-year-old Praveen Sarukte was in a sugarcane field with his parents near their farm, two hundred metres from their house. The leopard attacked him, but his parents' resistance and shouts scared the leopard away, saving the child. Praveen was admitted to a private hospital in Ghoti for treatment.
A rescue operation was initiated on Friday morning under the guidance of Range Forest Officer Ketan Biraris. However, as a crowd of two to three hundred villagers gathered, the leopard attacked and injured six villagers and six forest guards.
A team from Nashik was called to capture the leopard. Pankaj Garg, Conservator of Forests of Nashik West Division, along with approximately 130 officers and forest staff from Igatpuri, Trimbakeshwar, and Sinnar, participated in the combing operation under the guidance of Conservator of Forests Anil Pawar and Regional Forest Officer of Igatpuri, Ketan Biraris. As of Saturday, the leopard remains uncaptured.
