Karnal:
Another encounter, another success for the Haryana police. This time though, the target was a three-year-old leopard that had ventured into human habitation near Karnal. And it had to pay for its transgressions with its life.
Animal rights activists are furious. "The leopard was killed by the Karnal Police in the presence of wildlife officials and the same crime was committed by the Haryana Police in Jind 10 days ago. Wildlife officials are neither well trained, nor well equipped to handle these situations and the local police target the animals with out any shooting orders from competent authorities.
"Hence we are demanding criminal proceedings for the violations of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 against all offenders of both the crimes," said Naresh Kadyan, animal rights activist, member of The International Organisation for Animal Protection.
But the police have a different story to narrate. "We did our best to rescue the leopard. Earlier we had received information that it was a cub but later we discovered that it was a full-grown leopard. When we reached the spot the leopard had attacked an old watchman and was about to kill him so we were compelled to fire a few rounds, which injured the animal but it again attacked the locals who then beat the animal to death," said the Superintendent of Police, Karnal.