Uttarakhand: Forest Department captures man-eater leopard in Dehradun's Kimadi

Ranger Rakesh Negi in Mussoorie Forest Division said, "Guldar (leopard) has been imprisoned in a cage installed in Kimadi village. This guldar was being searched for a long time."

This comes after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami gave strict instructions to the Forest Department to catch the leopard soon. As cases of Guldar (leopard) attacks are continuously increasing in the state, he gave strict instructions to the officers of the department that there should be no loss of life under any circumstances.

On February 25, a 10-year-old child was killed by a leopard in the Kimadi area. After this incident, CM Dhami summoned officials of the Forest Department on the issue of human-wildlife conflict in the state.

Earlier, CM Dhami instructed Chief Wildlife Warden Sameer Sinha to take necessary action in this regard. Dhami has also given instructions to send a trained QRT (Quick Response Team) to the field immediately. Chief Wildlife Warden ordered to go to the field.

Following such incidents, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed Chief Forest Conservator RK Sudhanshu to monitor the cases daily.

As per CM Dhami's instructions, cages were installed and night patrolling was done to catch the leopards.

The Chief Minister had also issued orders to ban foreign tours by forest officers.

At a meeting in the Secretariat held in January, the Chief Minister had said that strict action should be taken against the Forest Department officials who are negligent in preventing such incidents.

During the meeting, he had said that in areas where incidents of human-wildlife conflict are taking place, the forest department should be kept on 24-hour alert mode.

The Chief Minister had also said that in cases of death due to human-wildlife conflict, a proposal should be brought soon to increase the ex-gratia amount provided as financial assistance to the family members of the deceased from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. (ANI)