Pune, November 17: A family in Junnar’s Pimpalwandi was in for surprise when they found a leopard joining them for dinner. A full grown leopard who was chasing a cat, crashed into the house of Vilas Raykar as they had spread out the dining mats. As the family members screamed at its sight, the leopard ran out of the house after a few seconds.

Horrified, Raykar, who is a farmer by profession, requested the forest department to put in place a cage for trapping the animal. Pimpalwandi village comes under the Otur forest range in Junnar tehsil, nearly 90km from Pune. Video: Leopard Falls Into Open Well in Jakhori Village in Maharashtra’s Nashik; Rescued

TOI quoted Raykar as saying that he was having dinner with his wife, Sangita and son, Vikram, in the living room and were also watching a programme on the television. Suddenly they saw their cat running into the kitchen. Within split seconds, the leopard came inside the house running after the cat. The horrified family could do nothing but scream at the sight of the leopard. Leopard Attack in Aarey Colony: Cattle Farm Worker Attacked by Big Cat While Talking on Phone, Second Incident This Week

He further added that the animal left the house on listening to their screams. They took almost 10 minutes to close the door from inside as they feared the leopard’s presence outside.

Raykar's house is surrounded by sugar cane fields and grape plantations and does not have a compound wall. He has put up some electric bulbs to keep the area outside the house illuminated.

Range forest officer Vaibhav Kakde said to TOI that they have held several rounds of meetings with the villagers to educate them on measures to prevent leopard attacks. Officials have been instructed to increase night patrolling in the village. The state government does not provide people with funds for constructing compound walls, the forest officer added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 17, 2022 09:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).