Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
A forest guard was seriously injured when a leopard attacked him in the forest of Chincholi Shivar of Phulambri tehsil of the district on Sunday morning. The injured forest guard has been shifted to a private hospital in the city for treatment. There is a forest beside Panwadi-Chicholi Budruk of the tehsil.
When a villager saw the leopard, at 11 am today, he informed fellow villagers. Many villagers from Panwadi and Chincholi Budruk reached the jungle and started screaming.
Frightened over this, the big cat started running helter-skelter. The Forest Department was informed about it.
Forest ranger Rekha Barbade, forest guard Vijay Kunte, Kakaji Bhalerao, Azim Shaikh, Sainath Pawar, Sanjay Najan, Prabhu Dwarkunde, Maya Zhine reached there and started searching for the wild animal.
The leopard suddenly came onto the sand of a nearby pond and attacked in the head of the forest guard Vijay Kunte with its claws. Seriously injured Kunte was rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for treatment. Later, he was shifted to a private hospital in the city.
Meanwhile, after the incident, the rescue team of the forest department from Ajanta and Soyegaon came there for assistance. The Forest Department team was making efforts to catch the leopard.