Officials assaulted in Rajasthan after cheetah attacks cattle

A forest team from Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, deployed to track a cheetah that had strayed into Karauli district in Rajasthan, was allegedly assaulted by villagers after the animal killed a buffalo calf in the area, police said on Friday.

Police have registered a case under BNS Sections 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant), 132 (assaulting or using criminal force against any public servant), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) against five to six unidentified people for allegedly assaulting and threatening foresters, said Jay Prakash Singh, station house officer (SHO) of Mandrayal police station.

He added, “An investigation is underway to identify the accused.”

Cheetah spotted moving away from forests

The incident took place in the Mandrayal area, where a cheetah identified as KGP-3, which had strayed from Kuno National Park, had been moving through the forests, officials said.

Alok Prajapati, 34, a forester with Kuno National Park, lodged a police complaint on Tuesday, alleging that five to six unidentified villagers assaulted and threatened members of the forest team.

According to the complaint, the cheetah’s movement was traced to an area under Chandelipura gram panchayat, within Mandrayal police station limits, where it had killed a buffalo calf. A Kuno forest team was deployed to track the animal when villagers allegedly approached them, abused its members and attacked the team.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Prajapati said an elderly man approached the team while it was patrolling the area and began abusing its members.

“We tried to convince him and assured him that compensation would be provided for the death of the buffalo calf. Later, another man arrived and called other villagers. The attackers tried to strangle me and started pelting stones,” he alleged.

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Prajapati also claimed that a tiger had recently been shot dead by villagers in the area.

“The Kuno National Park forest team needs police protection. We are not safe from the locals,” he said, adding that he had sought security for the team during night patrols.

Forest teams from Kuno National Park and Karauli are continuing to monitor the cheetah’s movements, members of the tracking team said.