Nuapada: Panic has spread in the Sunabeda area of Nuapada district after a video showing a leopard roaming on the Sunabeda–Datunama road went viral.
The road passes through the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary under Komna block in Nuapada district and connects Odisha with neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
According to reports, a group of people from Oed village under Mainpur police station in Chhattisgarh’s Gariabandh district had come to the Sunabeda area. While returning in a car around 7:30pm Saturday, they spotted a leopard standing on the road near Kebdi creek (Amba nullha), between Sunabeda and Datunama villages.
When the vehicle’s headlights fell on the animal, the leopard reportedly stopped and wandered around the road for nearly 10 minutes.
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The occupants of the vehicle remained silent inside out of fear. After the leopard moved back into the forest, they resumed their journey.
Following the incident, residents living inside and around the Sunabeda sanctuary are on edge.
Assistant Conservator of Forests Sanjeev Banagola of Sunabeda wildlife division said the number of leopards in the sanctuary has been increasing.