Kalaburagi (PTI): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said the party-led government in Karnataka will deliberate on the Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, popularly known as 'caste census' in the cabinet and take an appropriate decision.

Declining to comment on the report, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said he had not seen it yet.

“It is left for the state government, every state does their own. This was not done by the central government. The state government will discuss in the cabinet and decide. I have not seen the report. The matter is left to the state government,” Kharge told reporters here.

Asked about the opposition to the report, he said, “(opposition) may be there. I have shared my opinion.”

Amid what looks like a caste conundrum, a special meeting of Karnataka cabinet, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, will discuss the contentious 'caste census', on Thursday.

Various communities, especially Karnataka's two dominant ones -- Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats -- have expressed strong reservations about the survey that has been done, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded that it be rejected, and a fresh survey be conducted.

Objections have also been raised by various sections of society, and there are also strong voices against it from within the ruling Congress.

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Thane (PTI): Forest officials on Sunday captured a leopard that mauled an eight-year-old child to death nearly a month ago in Shahapur of Maharashtra’s Thane district.

The predator walked into one of the cages set up in the area late Saturday night, ending weeks of panic in several villages in the region, an official from the Dolkhamb division of the forest department said.

"The captured leopard will undergo a thorough medical examination before any further decision is taken regarding its relocation or release," he said.

Senior inspector Suresh Gavit from the Kasara police station confirmed the development, stating that the forest department had successfully secured the animal.

Following the news of the capture, a video surfaced on social media showing a large crowd of villagers, including children, cheering and following the vehicle carrying the caged leopard.

The capture comes as a major relief to the area, which had been on edge since April 16, when the big cat killed an eight-year-old boy.

Krishna Bhaga Agiwale, a resident of Kalbhonde in the Kasara range, had ventured into a forest patch near his house to collect wild fruits when the leopard pounced on him, dragged him into the thicket and killed him on the spot.