While there were claims that a leopard had attacked an individual in Vasai, forest department officials confirmed that a security guard named Shah Rukh Khan confessed to lying about the incident. Khan fell off his bike and got injured after he hit a pothole, but claimed he fell after being attacked by a leopard.

Another security guard, Vishal Gaund downloaded the image of a cheetah from the internet and uploaded it on a WhatsApp group claiming that he had clicked it. The fake news and image on the group caused panic in the area. The forest department has issued a warning to Khan and Gaund, and also scanned the area as a precaution, but did not find a single leopard pugmark.