A video captured by a motorist on Ghodbunder Road in Thane has caught the imagination of many as to whether lions exist in Maharashtra. While forest officials soon sprung into action and have launched a search operation for the big cat, animal activists suspect that the lion might have been kept in a farmhouse by someone and it strayed.

However, experts have expressed their doubts over the veracity of the video. The video is now doing rounds in the social media creating news.

The video shows a lion walking down the street during night. As soon as the driver of the car saw the lion, he stopped the vehicle and kept the headlights focussed on the beast. According to him, he waited inside the car and videographed the lion till it went across the road and disappeared into the jungle.

"After seeing the video, we tried to trace the lion with forest officials. However, till now, there has been no clues. The search will be on," said Pawan Sharma, founder of Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare.

Confirming that the three lions at Sanjay Gandhi National Park are safe and healthy, Thane chief conservator of forest Kaushlesh Singh, said, "The three lions are safe at SGNP. I saw the video clip and have sent teams to trace the lion. At the same time we are cross-checking the relevance of the video and trying to figure the location of the lion to ascertain whether it strayed from any nearby locality."

Watch: Lion sighted roaming the streets of Thane