Leopard attack on child: Security to be strengthened on Tirumala Alipiri walkway

TIRUMALA: Following the attack on a six-year-old girl Lakshitha on Friday night after a Leopard mauled her to death on the Alipiri walkway, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) decided to strengthen vigil from Alipiri till Narasimhaswamy temple. The TTD and the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the bereaved family.

TTD Executive Officer AV Dharma Reddy, after an emergency meeting in Tirumala on Saturday, said that guards would be posted at an interval of 10 metres on the Alipiri walkway and that the TTD would also consider closing the walkway during the night.

“However, closure during night time will put pressure on the resources on the seven hills, as shelter, food and water must be provided to devotees who would have walked down during the night time,” Dharma Reddy said.

He said that parents must be careful while walking on the Alipiri way, and guard their children with utmost attention. “TTD has been advising devotees to walk in groups and keep on chanting God’s name to keep the wild animals at bay,” he said opining that the tragic incident could have been avoided if the girl stayed on the walkway.

He recalled a similar incident that occurred on June 22, 2023, when a leopard attacked a boy and alert devotees chased the animal away and urged devotees to be vigilant.

High alert zone declared

On the other hand, the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Nageswara Rao and divisional forest officer Satish Kumar visited the location where the girl’s body was recovered and said that they would lay traps to capture the wild animal. They said that a base camp would be established first and based on the type of animal, appropriate catching methods would be used.

“If it is a bear we will use a tranquiliser dart, if it’s a big cat then we use a bone trap. Similarly, we will also use drone cameras and trap cameras to monitor the movement of wild animals on seven hills. A high alert zone will be established from the seventh milestone from Alipiri to the Narasimha Swamy temple," the forest official said.