Pune: Rudra Mahendra Fapale (8), who was on a pilgrimage to his maternal uncle's village, was killed in a leopard attack on Wednesday at Kalesthal Basti Shivara in Kalwadi (Junnar). Fapale, a native of Badgi Belapur in Ahmednagar, had come to Kalwadi for the yatra with his relative Rohidas Genbhau Kakade. Rudra's mother had gone back to her village yesterday when the unfortunate incident took place the next day.
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Rudra was playing near the house around 8.30 am. He was going to the shed on the side of the house when suddenly a leopard attacked him and picked him up. His body was found in a nearby sugarcane field.
Forest department officials and staff rushed to the spot after the incident was reported to the forest department. Villagers in and around Kalwadi have been demanding serious attention to the issue by the forest department as well as the Maharashtra Chief Minister to stop leopard attacks. After a civilian is killed or injured in a leopard attack, the forest department sets up a cage in the area. Also, forest department personnel are monitoring the area for a few days. Instead of taking measures after the incident, the government needs to take measures now to prevent these incidents from happening. Otherwise, the number of civilian deaths due to leopard attacks in Junnar will continue to increase.
Two days ago, a young woman from Pimpalwandi was attacked by a leopard and seriously injured. The distance from Pimpalwandi to Kalwadi is just three kilometers. Two months ago, a three-and-a-half-year-old boy from Umbraj village was also injured in a leopard attack. A month ago, the son of a shepherd from Shiroli was killed in a leopard attack. The death of pets and cattle in leopard attacks has been going on in Junnar for a long while now.
The farmers were also cooperating with the forest department in this regard. Now, however, leopard attacks on humans have increased and children are facing untold deaths. The villagers say that a permanent solution needs to be found at the earliest. In Junnar taluka, the forest department is also seen as helpless in managing these leopards.
"The incident is unfortunate and I had earlier requested the forest department to set up a cage at Kalwadi to catch the leopard. They ignored it and even after the incident, the forest department officials did not show up early. This shows that the forest department is not taking these incidents seriously.
- Tushar Vaman (Sarpanch, Kalwadi)
We have eyewitnesses that the leopard was released by the forest department personnel in the Yedgaon dam area near Kalwadi a few days ago.
- Manoj Vaman (Kalwadi villager)
There was no light in the Kalwadi area for two or three days. Also, it is necessary to address the fact that farmers have to go to the fields at night to water their fields. The villagers are scared due to the fear of leopard.
- Ajay Belhekar Farmer, Kalwadi