The leopard was finally captured after being hit by two tranquilising darts.
A leopard walked into a housing colony in Indore today, triggering panic among the residents in the locality.
The big cat was spotted in the Palhar Nagar area in the morning and was seen entering an under-construction building and a residence before it was captured by forest officials. Residents even clicked pictures and filmed videos of the ordeal that left three people injured.
"The leopard, around 8 years old, had come from a forested area near here and caused panic among local residents. It injured two forest staffers and one employee of the Indore Municipal Corporation while efforts were on to capture it," Uttam Yadav, in charge of the civic-run Kamla Nehru Zoo said.
The leopard was first spotted around 10 am, following which a call was made to the local police station. The animal first entered an under-construction house and then moved to another residence where it stayed for three hours.
The leopard was finally captured after being hit by two tranquillising darts. A forest official was injured after he approached the animal after it was hit by the first dart thinking the animal had been sedated, but the leopard pounced on them injuring him and tried to escape.
The second dart sedated the leopard. Once the animal became unconscious, it was trapped in a steel cage by the forest officials.
The big cat would be released into the forest after mandatory medical tests.
(with inputs from PTI)