NAGPUR: A dramatic ‘leopard’ entry created chaos in Maharashtra assembly Wednesday, the third day of winter session that is being held in Nagpur, with MLA Sharad Sonawane walking into the House dressed head-to-toe in a leopard costume and mask, leaving some members stunned and others bemused. Some MLAs even shouted, “Remove the leopard!”The stunt, which came hours after a leopard injured seven people in Nagpur’s Pardi area, was intended to draw attention to escalating human-leopard conflict in the state. Sonawane claimed it had turned into a full-fledged “statewide emergency”, with 55 people killed by leopards in his region alone in the last three months.The Sena MLA moved into the well of the House, prompting speaker Rahul Patil to issue a stern warning. The speaker directed Sonawane to change his attire and maintain decorum.Earlier, Sonawane argued that leopards should be moved to Schedule II of Wildlife Protection Act, enabling immediate capture in situations of imminent danger. He criticized the forest department’s experimental projects since 2014, calling them ineffective. “Officials sit in air-conditioned cabins. It’s not their fear. It’s our fear,” he said. Meanwhile, Seven people were injured in a leopard attack in Maharashtra’s Pardi Wednesday morning after it entered the densely populated locality, the second such incident in a month.All seven are undergoing treatment at two different hospitals and their condition is said to be out of danger.
