Couple claim to have spotted tiger near Pune

We are verifying the incident. Sadashiv Shelar, Senior Inspector at Haveli Police Station, said the couple reported the sighting to the police.

A couple claimed to have spotted a tiger near Sinhgad Fort, nearly 20 km from Pune city, on Thursday evening.

Forest officials, however, said the sighting will have to be confirmed and the striped big cat is not seen in this area.

Pravin Waychal, a local resident, claimed that when he and his wife were returning after visiting the historical fort on a motorbike, he saw a tiger in the middle of the road. He stopped immediately, but the animal fled when a four-wheeler came honking, he added.

Pravin's wife Puja Waychal said she was ''100 per cent sure'' that it was a tiger and not a leopard.

Rahul Patil, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Pune Division, said, ''We are not sure about the sighting because a tiger is never spotted here. We are verifying the incident.'' Sadashiv Shelar, Senior Inspector at Haveli Police Station, said the couple reported the sighting to the police. ''As a precautionary measure, we are advising people in the adjacent villages not to roam around at night,'' he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)