A 12-year-old child became the talk of the town for showing his extraordinary wit and gathering courage during a close encounter with a leopard in Nashik district of Maharashtra.
The incident took place at 7 am at the Sai Celebration wedding hall situated along the Malegaon-Nampur road.
A video of the incident emerged on social media platforms where the boy, Mohit Ahire, is seen sitting on a bench in what seems to be an office, using his mobile. Suddenly, a leopard enters through the door.
Though taken aback, Mohit, who was barely a foot away from the leopard, remained calm and let the big cat walk through the door. Luckily, the leopard did not see him and went straight inside a cabin.
Mohit, with his timely response, slowly shut the door of the cabin, trapping the wild animal inside. He called his father, who works as a wedding hall security guard. His father alerted forest and police officials who immediately sent a five-member team to tranquillize and capture the leopard.
Speaking to Times of India, Mohit said, “The leopard was so close. There was hardly any space between the leopard and me. It walked into the inner cabin of the office right in front of me. I was scared, but I quietly managed to get off the bench and sneak out of the office. I closed the door behind me.”
Malegaon range forest officer Vaibhav Hiray informed that the leopard was a five-year-old male. “Since it is an agricultural land, there have been leopard sightings in the past. The locality is a few kilometres away from it.”
