CCTV footage confirms presence of leopard at IT Park, but wild cat remains elusive

 

 

 

With humans isolating themselves and restricting movements outdoors due to enforcement of the curbs to contain the novel coronavirus, animals have started claiming city streets. A leopard had strayed in Gayatri Nagar, near IT Park on Friday morning terrorising the residents. While a joint team of Forest Department and City Police was on toes to trace the wild animal, the leopard remained elusive even on Saturday. According to Forest Department, the sub-adult leopard was spotted by Prakash Naidu, a security guard of Trust System and Software in IT Park at 2.15 am on Saturday. The CCTV camera of the company recorded movement of the leopard in the area. Naidu informed the department officials that the leopard jumped over the boundary wall of Indrapari Software Company situated opposite the Trust System and Software.

 

The senior officials of Forest Department reviewed the spot on Friday late night and interacted with the search and rescue team. As per the instructions, the search and rescue team along with the staff from Transit Treatment Centre (TTC) once again conducted the search operation at IT Park premises, NPTI premises, Trust System and Software, Indrapari Software Company, Persistent and nearby areas. The team also checked the CCTV footage of the companies. The leopard is also captured in another CCTV camera installed in an ATM opposite Persistent Systems. The Forest department team is in contact with the bank officials to get the CCTV footage of their ATM, informed a forest official to The Hitavada.

 

Similarly, the team is checking footage of CCTV cameras installed by Police Department at squares and specially near the IT Park. There is no movement of the leopard captured in any of the CCTV cameras so far. The Forest Department team also conducted a search operation with the help of a dog squad on Saturday. The search and rescue operation will continue till the wild animal is captured. According to a senior forest official, “The leopard is still venturing in IT Park area as it is aware about the route and the place as it has come from Gorewada through a nullah.”