Media's role under scrutiny in leopard lynching case

Sources in the forest department said notices would soon be sent to some of the representatives of the local television news channels who were present on the spot when the animal died after the brutal mob attack. “Stringent action will be taken against the media representatives if they are found guilty after investigation,” a senior official in the wildlife branch of the forest department told Deccan Herald on Tuesday.

The camera crew and reporter of a particular local television news channel, who were present on the spot in Gandarpur village on that fateful day, had reportedly instigated the villagers to kill the animal—which was hiding behind a bush after accidentally straying into the village from nearby Chandka forests—just to have some exclusive footage of the mob attack on the terrified animal.

The divisional forest officer (DFO) of Bhubaneswar city division, who was asked to investigate the crime—leopard killing is a criminal offence under the wildlife protection act, as the animal is an endangered species—had also reportedly suggested to the department in his preliminary report to initiate an investigation into the alleged role of the media in the incident.

In his preliminary report, the DFO had stated that the leopard, desperate to escape the mob attack, wanted to flee from the spot but was not allowed by the attacking villagers. The brutal manner in which the villagers, armed with wooden sticks, iron rods, cricket bats and stumps, attacked the helpless leopard could be well assessed from the postmortem that suggested that the animal was killed due to severe head injury and complete destruction of its liver.

The wildlife branch has also identified five local villagers who were leading the mob attack. However, they all are absconding. “We are hopeful of arresting them very shortly,” said a forest official. The Centre also sought a report from the state government on the incident, which has already been sent.