Old images of leopard attack in Maharashtra shared as recent incident in Gujarat’s Polo forest

Facebook user Jitesh Jadeja posted a set of images with a message claiming that they depict a leopard attack in Polo forest, Gujarat, where a boy was killed. Among the photographs is one which shows a half-eaten carcass with upper body parts intact. “પોળના જંગલમાં ફરતા દિપડા એ અેક છોકરા ને ફાડી ખાધો”, reads the Gujarati text circulating with the images. It is also being shared on WhatsApp.

Old incident from Maharastra

With a reverse image search on Google, we found a 2018 tweet which said that these images were circulating with the rumour that the incident took place in Aarey but it actually took place in Chiplun, Maharastra.

#Mumbai do not believe in the rumours being spread that these images are from #Aarey or #Yeoor after a leopard attack……This happened early this week in Chiplun and not anywhere in Mumbai or #Thane Don’t forward these on WhatsApp @dna pic.twitter.com/axcrcNQXor

— Virat A Singh (@singhvirat246) December 14, 2018

A keyword search on Google revealed that the incident took place near Khadpoli MIDC in Chiplur city of Maharastra where at least two people were severely injured in a leopard attack. It’s an eight-month-old incident. We found a report by Marathi news outlet Sakal on December 11, 2018, which carried two of the photographs that are currently viral. This leopard got stuck in a trap-cage meant for wild boars. People had called forest officials seeing the leopard trapped in the cage but when the officials tried to put a bigger cage over the leopard, the animal managed to escape and went on a rampage.

Jai Maharastra News, a Marathi news channel, had also uploaded a video of the whole incident with the caption, “Leopard attack chiplun”.

In conclusion, photographs of an eight-month-old incident of a leopard attack in Maharastra was shared with the claim that the incident took place in Gujarat’s Polo forest.