The news of a leopard roaming free on the streets on Lucknow has been doing rounds since many days now. While the authorities are now claiming that the wild cat has gone beyond the city limits, an eyewitness claims to have spotted the leopard near the Ram Ram Bank intersection in Aliganj. While the news of the leopard being caught on Monday brought a sense of relief to the residents of Lucknow, this viral video has sparked a sense of fear and panic among people once again.
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Spotted for the first time on the roads of Lucknow, the leopard had entered the densely populated areas of Paharpur and Kalyanpur on Saturday. In a span of four days, the wild animal has allegedly attacked and injured seven people including a forest department official and a stray dog.
As per the claims of the forest department, the leopard is likely to have gone far ahead as no one has contacted the control room regarding the sighting of the animal in over 40 hours. Notably, the forest department has issued an advisory for the same and appealed to people to follow it.
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According to the Divisional Forest Officer, Dr. Ravi Kumar, four teams of the department are on a constant lookout for the leopard across the city. Reportedly, combing operations are also been carried out by officials in the areas of Gudamba and Kursi Road to trace the leopard that is on the loose. In a press release, the forest department stated that so far, the leopard has been spotted near Integral College, Jankipuram, Kursi Road, Aadhar Kheda, Chinhat, Sector 4, Vikas Nagar.
In a bid to put an end to rumours, the officials of the forest department have released a list of numbers on which civilians can inform the concerned department about leopard sightings. Contact the following numbers to share any information about the leopard that continues to wreak havoc in the city.
Regional Forest Officer, Kukrail - 7839434285
Sub Divisional Forest Officer Lucknow - 7839434892
Divisional Forest Officer, Avadh Forest Division 7839435107
Sub Divisional Forest Officer, Mohanlalganj 9935417955, CUG 7839434891
-with inputs from Pawan Kaushal
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