Rajkot: Rs 25,000 reward for information on four men who tortured leopard cub

Rajkot: The forest department on Monday announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for providing information on the four men who were seen torturing a leopard cub in a viral video that has surfaced on social media.

The video is believed to be shot somewhere in forest of Amreli or Surendranagar district.

The forest department was still clueless about the origin of the video even after 48 hours of it going viral.

The video shows the accused bursting into hysterical laughter as the cub struggles to break free from their clutches after being pinned between in the forked branch of a tree. Senior forest officers are of the view that the video was shot somewhere outside of Gir forest.

Chief conservator of forest (wildlife circle) D T Vasavada said, “We have announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for information on the tormentors seen in the video. We have alerted our teams across the state to identify the accused. But we are still doubtful if the video was shot in Gir.”

Deputy conservator of forest Gir (east) division tweeted “A cash award of Rs 25,000 for providing information or help in catching these culprits is announced by Greater Gir Task Force. Contact concerned DCFs or DCF Greater Gir Task Force at 7574950055.”

While personnel from Gir forest and surrounding areas of Saurashtra region, including Junagadh, have been asked to probe the case, a section of officials believe the video could have been shot anywhere in the state.

"This video was forwarded to us by our superiors as they suspect it was shot in our region. We feel chances of this video being shot in Gir forest are very less. Leopards give birth in farms too. It is possible the mother leopard lost the cub and it was found by these four culprits," said SK Berwal, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Junagadh Division.

He said social media was also being used to track down the four persons.

The video further shows the four men are getting sadistic pleasure by harassing the leopard cub, poking sticks at it and holding it by the neck. During the 46 second video the cub is seen trying desperately to free itself from the clutches of perpetrators.