Encounter of animals? Akilesh's jibe at Leopard's killing

The killing of a leopard, which had strayed into the Aashiyana locality here, evoked criticism from the opposition with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asking whether this indicated a new trend of encounters of animals. "Traps were laid to catch the leopard. The forest department staff and police were there. If the leopard tried to break the trap, then attempts should had been made to catch it. What was the relevance of shooting it? Did the leopard have a country-made pistol? Was it firing? And did the police have to carry its encounter it to save their lives?" Yadav said taking a jibe. Yesterday also, Yadav had demanded action against those responsible for the animal's death.

"Which law says that instead of catching the animal, it should be killed. It could have been tranquilised. Has the new government started the trend of encounter of animals also? This is illegal, and those responsible for it should not be spared," the former chief minister had tweeted. UP Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput also raised questions about the incident. "The forest officials should have made efforts to catch the leopard. Strict action should be initiated against the guilty," Rajput said. UP BJP spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi said that it is indeed sad that the leopard was killed, but the circumstances should also be examined. A leopard had strayed into the Aurangabad Khalsa village in the Ashiyana area of the state capital and was shot dead by a police team yesterday. The big cat broke through the nets put up by the forest department team and injured three locals and a policeman who opened fire in self defence, police said.

The injured leopard was rushed to the Lucknow zoo where it later died.