Leopard injures man at Aarey Milk Colony, second attack this week

The leopard attacked Pintu Pandit around 7.30 pm on Thursday. The injury on Pandit’s left hand

A man walking on an unlit road was attacked by a leopard at Unit 31 in Aarey Milk on Thursday, the second incident of man-animal conflict in the green zone this week. The man's injuries are not life-threatening, said doctors.

The big cat jumped onto Pintu Pandit, a local resident, around 7.30 pm. "I was walking towards the main road. The internal road passes through a forested patch. At that spot, I felt something had grabbed my hand. It was a leopard which disappeared into the bushes after I started screaming my lungs out," said Pandit.

Locals said they have seen a female leopard moving with her cubs in the area. Raj Jadhav, a volunteer for NGO WWA, rushed Pandit to Puri Hospital where he was given first aid and allowed to go home. Girija Desai, assistant conservator of forest from Thane (territorial) and her team also met the injured.

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On Monday night, an Aarey resident had sustained injuries in a leopard attack. Lakshmi Umbersade from Unit 31 was returning home sometime between 9.30 pm and 10 pm when she came face-to-face with a leopard. The big cat pounced on her and she fell, injuring her leg and head. A forest official, who did not wish to be named, had said, "Prima facie it appears that the leopard attacked the woman in self defence."

Stressing that these are not isolated incidents, locals have urged their local representatives to ensure that the streetlights on all internal roads are kept working. Wildlife lover Kaushal Dubey from Aarey said, "People say there is a female leopard with her cubs in the vicinity. The person might have come in her way triggering an attack to protect her cubs."