Overview
- Thirteen-year-old Rohan Vilas Bombe was fatally attacked in Pimparkhed, Shirur, on Sunday afternoon, the fifth leopard-related death in Pune district this year.
- Villagers torched a forest department vehicle and a local base office, then blocked the Pune–Nashik highway, with police diverting traffic and tensions persisting.
- A sharpshooter team from Pune-based Rana’s Rifle Club led by IAF veteran Chandrakant Mandlik is on site to first attempt capture or tranquilisation before any kill action.
- More than 40 trap cages, camera traps and drones are being deployed, pugmarks of multiple leopards were found near the attack site, and the specific animal has not yet been traced.
- Forest officials will collect swabs from any captured leopards for lab DNA matching to victims, while two young females recently trapped near Nashik were moved to the Mhasrul treatment centre as broader policy debates include sterilisation and legal protections.