Leopard mauls two in Thane

THANE: A real-life drama unfolded in the Khopat area of Thane after a leopard strolled into the densely populated Gokuldaswadi on Wednesday morning and attacked two persons. The leopard was later trapped inside a timber mart-cum-godown, tranquillized and taken to the Sanjay Gandhi national park.
Gokuldaswadi is a cluster of about 1,000 houses, mostly chawls, about 3.5 km from the Eastern Express Highway behind the Flower Valley complex.The leopard, after crossing the highway, first attacked 28-year-old Shraddha Golavkar at 5.30 in the morning. Gowalkar was carrying her two-year-old son Aryan in her arms when the leopard pounced on her from behind. The animal dragged the woman a few feet but she did not let go of her child. Hearing the commotion, her neighbours switched on the lights and came out of their houses. The leopard fled.
"We heard her scream and rushed to help her. We found Shraddha bleeding profusely from a huge wound on the neck. She just managed to mumble that she had been attacked by a leopard," milk vendor Pankaj Jangam said. She was admitted to the Thane Civil Hospital. Miraculously, Aryan escaped without a single scratch on his body.
Although dozens of locals scoured the undergrowth and rooftops, the leopard remained elusive.
Later, it was found to have entered a timber mart-cum-godown located in the Bata Compound. "The moment I entered the godown, I saw the leopard moving on the racks. I was so petrified that I ran for my life shouting that there was a leopard inside," one of the employees, Dilip Diwakar, said.
Ram Swarup, who was also in the godown and found the leopard running towards him, had a providential escape. "I heard a loud thud the moment Dilip started screaming. I was shocked to find a roaring leopard," Swarup said. But the godown employees had enough presence of mind to rush out, leaving the animal trapped inside.
Forest officials arrived on the scene almost four hours later but, even then, they were without traps or tranquillizers. These were brought in later and efforts to trap the animal started at about 11 am. A dog was kept in the trap as bait for the leopard and the entire area was flood-lit.
It was at the timber mart that the second attack occurred. Thirty-five-year-old Madanlal Kumavat ventured too close to one of the windows of the godown and the leopard pawed him after breaking through the grille. Kumavat had to be admitted to a private hospital. Director of SNGP, Dr P N Munde, said, "We have sucessfully rescued the adult leopard withouth causing him any injuries." Dr Munde added that tranquilizers were used. "It's a healthy well-grown male leopard weighing about 60 kg."
The last leopard attack in and around Mumbai had also occurred in a Thane hamlet. A girl had to be admitted to hospital last week after she was mauled. What saved her was her mother's courage in managing to scare the animal away. Two motorcyclists in Yeoor were also chased away by a leopard last week.
The last time a leopard entered a thickly populated urban area was a couple of years ago when a wedding hall on Pokhran Road Number 2 had an uninvited guest.
But the straying of leopards into urban localities has hurt the animals more than human beings. Two of them have died in the last ten days, one in Powai, the other on Ghodbunder Road, after being hit by speeding vehicles.