Sheopur (MP), Feb 18 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday released 12 South African cheetahs – including five females – into an enclosure within Kuno National Park thus taking the state’s cheetah population to 20. Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion – which coincided with the festival of Mahashivratri – were Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav, central Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and state Forest Minister Vijay Shah. The dozen carnivores were first conveyed to Gwalior aboard an IAF special plane, medically examined and thence departed on helicopters for Kuno where comprehensive arrangements are in place. Ten quarantine bomas and a couple of isolation wards are ready, it was officially learnt. Mr Chouhan expressed heartfelt gratitude towards “visionary” Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This will prove crucial from the tourism and employment angles,” he wrote in social media.