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| Police, WLD lock horns over leopard killing | | |
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Jan 18: The police and the wild life department (WLD) have locked horns over the killing of a leopard by the police after it mauled six persons including an 8-year-old girl at Pulwama Monday.
According to reports, a leopard mauled an 8-year-old girl in Purshool village of Pulwama district Monday morning. The screams of the girl evoked strong reaction from the locals who rushed to rescue her. Scared by the mob, the leopard let the girl free but in the process of managing escape from the area tested his canines on six persons. The frightened animal sought `refuge’ in a cowshed. The police swung into action and fired a volley of bullets killing the leopard on the sport. A civilian identified as Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Nengroo also sustained injuries in the police firing.
The wild life department has taken strong exception of the killing of the leopard. The department intends to hold an enquiry into the incident. The SP Pulwama while talking to media persons said the police waited for quite some time before killing the animal. “We acted to protect the lives of the people. We tried our best to contact the wildlife people but they were busy in trapping as many as four leopards in Fatehgarh area of Anantnag district”, he said.
The wildlife warden for South Kashmir, Mushtaq Ahmad Barsi, however, denies the police version. “We were informed about presence of leopard by the police around 5 p.m. We immediately contacted the Bijbehara office because this office has the required drugs and the required tools to deal with such a situation. But when the team reached Pulwama, the police had already killed the animal”, he added.
Barsi said the police cannot declare an animal man-eater. “This can be done by the wildlife experts alone”, he said.
“The department has taken custody of the dead animal from the police. We have also got the statement of the police. Now we will investigate whether the animal actually attacked the human beings”, he said.
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