Ajinkya Rahane

the national

CCTV clip shows big cat entering Lok Nisarg Apartments in Mulund, home to India batsman, and dragging out a dog sleeping in the lobby.A 20-second CCTV camera clip, which has gone viral, has scared the daylights out of nearly 1,000 residents of a Mulund housing society, which shares a boundary wall with Sanjay Gandhi National Park.The clip, recorded at 2.38 am last Friday, shows a full grown leopard walking into the lobby of one of the wings (B-7) of Lok Nisarg Apartments in Mulund (W). India batsman Ajinkya Rahane resides in Wing B-2 of the society.The leopard is then seen approaching a ground floor apartment, where a dog was sleeping outside. It is seen grabbing the hapless dog by its neck, and dragging it out even as the dog wriggled for a few seconds.Suresh Pindarkar, the watchman on duty at B-7 when the leopard nonchalantly ventured into the society, saw the kill from behind an iron grill door abutting the stairway.The society chairman, G P Lagad, said a shaken Pindarkar told him that he noticed the leopard only when the dog yelped in fear. “Pindarkar told me it was all over within seconds,” he said.The society, which has seven wings, put up iron grill doors near the stairway of each building after a few leopard visits, and is now planning to install similar doors at the lobby level.Lagad said Friday’s victim, Raju, was the sixth dog killed by the leopards at their premises in the few years. “The clip is spinechilling. It seemed a ghost entered the building and took the dog away. The residents of Flat 003, at whose doorstep the dog was sleeping, are especially concerned, and so are the others living on the ground floor,” he said.Animal activist Pawan Sharma, co-ordinator, Resquink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), said leopard visits to the society were hardly surprising as there is just a wall separating it frompark.“If the residents want, we can organise a session wherein we can suggest ways to tackle such situations. If the residents take precautions, they won’t be harmed,” he said.The Lok Nisarg residents, however, blamed the Forest department for not repairing the boundary wall. Tukaram Kolambkar, who resides on the sixth floor of B-7 building, said he was extremely worried for his son, who returns home late in the night.The residents have now been instructed to not let the children and the elderly venture out alone, as the society reports frequent leopard visits between June and September. Ground floor resident Manisha Gada said till the time iron grill doors were put up at the lobby, the residents will remain on tenterhooks.“Those who frequently find wild animals at their doorstep will understand our plight. We are scared for our children when they are playing on the compound, we are worried about family members when they return late from work,” she said.Sunil Limaye, field director, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, said he had seen the clip. “Our leopard rescue team will soon visit the spot. The residents need not worry,” he said.Animal activists were called after a leopard was sighted on the Mulund-Bhandup road.Two leopards sighted near Highland Park, near Mulund Colony (W).Leopard walks out of Lok Nisarg Apartments dragging a dog.Residents of Swapna Nagri, Mulund (W) reported two leopard sightings. Footprints were seen near Pinewood Society.