Around 5 people were injured in the Leopard attack in Tirupur. After four days of intense search, the forest dept finally trapped the animal using a tranquilliser, today afternoon.
Tirupur: After four days of intense monitoring, the forest department staff trapped the elusive Leopard that attacked over 5 people in the last four days in Tirupur district.
The male leopard was trapped using a tranquilliser and reportedly will be released in Udumalpet forest range, after thorough medical examination, confirmed the forest officials who have been patiently waiting to capture the animal safely and put an end to the attacks on humans and livestock.
On Monday, the leopard attacked Maran and Varadarajan, who were harvesting corn crops at a field at Avinashi Taluk of Papankulam in Tirupur district. On the same day, the leopard attacked two more individuals who had gathered in the corn field, after which the police, forest and revenue department rushed to the spot.
After confirming the animal to be a leopard, the forest department initiated the process to capture it.
Twelve surveillance cameras were installed around the corn field and the team tried to lure the leopard by placing meat baits.
Following this, a forest staff, Veera Mani Kandan, who was patrolling at around 5 pm on Monday sustained minor injuries after the leopard attacked him. Since then, the forest team were on a constant vigil from to capture the leopard lurking inside the corn field.
It was on Tuesday morning, the forest team found that the elusive Leopard has escaped the corn field and moved to a different area. The disappointed forest team decided to warn the public in the surrounding areas as they were clueless on its hideout. The nearby villagers were immediately alerted and the search for the leopard began.
The Tirupur District Superintendent of Police Shashank Sai took to Twitter informing the public to stay safe, as the leopard was visible in Perumanallur area until Tuesday night. The leopard's remains and footprints were also found in Pongupalayam, on Wednesday morning. An alert was immediately issued to the surrounding areas of Pongupalayam and 20 more surveillance cameras were installed to track the leopard's movements.
During these circumstance, today morning the leopard attacked Rajendran, who was working at a private Godown, and Prem, an anti-poaching guard, at Ammapalayam.
The forest officers who immediately arrived at the spot hatched a plan to trap the leopard which was hiding inside the godown.
Yet again, breaking down the department's surveillance system, the leopard escaped from the godown and hid behind a bushy area. Not missing the chance, the senior veterinarian Vijayaraghavan, successfully sedated the animal with a tranquilliser.
The half-conscious leopard entered a small space nearby and then fainted off. The forest officers who waited for the animal to become unconscious, loaded the animal into a caged cart and transported it to a safe location under Udumalpet forest range.