After he was attacked by the big cat, the motorcyclist fell down on the country-made road, and immediately shouted for help, which scared the leopard prompting security personnel to rush for help
Pic/Hanif Patel
A motorcyclist escaped unhurt in Vasai after a big cat tried to pounce on him late Tuesday night when he was returning home from work, said police.
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After he was attacked by the big cat, the motorcyclist Shah Rukh Khan fell down on the country-made road, and immediately shouted for help, which scared the leopard prompting security personnel to rush for help.
The incident has triggered panic among local residents, who generally resort to using the same route to go to work.
A team from Valiv police station arrived at the spot after local residents informed them.
The cops have persevered the photos of a paw print on the country-made road in the Bhoidapada area of Vasai East for further investigation.
“The motorcyclist escaped unhurt by the attack of a big cat last night. We have preserved its paw prints for further investigation. The forest officials have been alerted about the spotting of a big cat, which is suspected to be a leopard,” said Dilip Ghughe, the senior inspector of Valiv police station told mid-day.
The officials are looking for more paw prints, scratch marks on trees, droppings and other important points to trace the leopard.
Last year in March, a male leopard was spotted near the Indo-Portuguese Fort in Vasai where dozens of stray dogs went missing and the carcasses of animals were found in the vicinity.
Dozens of forest officials and wildlife NGOs reportedly had to use bait, set up cages, and monitor the area with drones or night-vision equipment to finally capture him after 25 days of struggle.
Range Forest Officer(RFO) Rita Vaidya said, "There has been no Human Leopard conflict incident reported from the Vasai area. Yesterday we got information about an incident where the person claimed that he was injured in a leopard attack but the person seems to be misleading as the images of the animal that he claimed to have been attacked by is that of a cheetah which is not found in Maharashtra."
Honorary Wildlife Warden of Thane - Rohit Mohite said, "We also got information about a negative interaction between leopards and humans in Vasai. The forest department officials are investigating into the same to understand if it's true and what exactly might have led to the negative interaction. There are high chances that the person might have been passing by the road on his bike and at the same time the leopard might have been crossing the road and the person might have injured himself after falling from the bike. The doctors at the hospital where the person might have been taken can tell us if the injury is due to a leopard attack or due to falling from a bike. Our team will be coordinating with the forest department officials and camera traps will be installed in the area to see if it was a leopard or a Jungle cat."
Mohite also told this newspaper that the picture of the animal (leopard) that attacked the human which has gone viral on WhatsApp is that of a cheetah and not a leopard.
(With inputs from Ranjeet Jadhav)
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