Just two days after a leopard strayed into a school in Bengaluru’s Whitefield, panic spread as eyewitnesses claimed that two more leopards were spotted at Varthur near the Nilgiris farm.
The location where the leopards are said to have been spotted is just behind the Vibgyor school in Whitefield, where another leopard had strayed into on Sunday. The school has announced that it will remain closed on Wednesday as a precautionary measure.
Deepika Bajpai, the Deputy Conservator of Forests, has asked people not to burst crackers or set the field on fire in panic. There were reports that loud noises and firecracker bursts were heard in the area, which were possibly attempts by residents to scare the animals.
Though police officers and forest department officials are patrolling the area, officers say no eye witness has been found yet who had seen the leopards. "Everyone is saying someone else saw the leopards. We are searching the area," Rajshekhar, inspector of the Varthur station said.
Earlier in the day, Whitefield Rising group had tweeted the picture of pug marks that had reportedly been seen in the area.
Eyewitnesses say that some people reportedly saw a leopard near an eucalyptus grove, following which they set the field on fire.
Picture of farm set on fire shared by Sagar Singh, a resident of Whitefield
An eyewitness told the media that on Sunday too several people had spotted three leopards, and only one had strayed into the school. Though the forest department has asked citizens not to panic, officials are yet to confirm if the leopards are actually out on the area.
The local media had shared a picture of a leopard and claimed that it was of the big cat spotted in Varathur. But some social media users busted the theory and found that the picture was taken a few years ago in Africa.
On Sunday, it took officials almost 14 hours to capture the leopard. This is the video of a leopard at the school on Sunday