After 48 hours of launching a search operation to trace the elusive leopard in T Narasipur taluk, the big cat was sighted in a camera trap, on Saturday night, at Mallikarjunaswamy hill near Ukkalagere, where it had killed a youth a month ago.
Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mysuru Division, Kamala, said that they even found fresh scat (faecal matter) of the leopard in the area.
Kamala said it is almost confirmed that it is the same leopard that killed the youth, based on the images of leopard found in trap cameras (11 days ago). However, they could not trace it despite intensive combing operation for the whole day at Mallikarjunaswamy hill and entire taluk, where special teams are searching. Drone cameras were also used to trace the leopard. The operation will continue on Sunday night too, she said.
Among 15 teams, two teams will visit places from where they get calls from villagers, Kamala said.
Meanwhile, announcements are being made urging the people to stay indoors after 5 pm - in 97 villages coming under 15 gram panchayats of T Narsipura taluk, Mysuru district. More than 100 forest department personnel, led by Malathi Priya, Conservator of Forest, Mysuru circle, Kamala, DCF Mysuru division, have taken up continuous day-and-night operation from Friday morning.
The operation has been taken up to trace the leopard which killed 22-year-old Meghana at S Kebbehundi village in T Narasipura on Thursday night. They have placed ten cages and ten trap cameras near Ukkalagere where a youth was killed, and three cages and ten cameras near S Kebbehundi where Meghana was killed.
Going by the pug marks and pictures of trap cameras, forest officers say that it could be a six to seven-year-old male leopard. They suspect that it might have come from nearby Vadagal Rangaswamy hill or Kollegal or Chamarajanagar forest area.