Three people were reportedly injured in attacks by a leopard that strayed into a residential area of Kalyan, near Mumbai on Thursday. Videos being circulated on social media showed the big cat jumping across a window of a building.
Forest officials reached the spot and efforts were on to capture it.
“I saw the leopard on the first floor. People were screaming for help. A man went inside the building despite the warning and was attacked by the leopard. Some of us with sticks in hand scared it away,” said a local.
The incident comes three days after a leopard was allegedly spotted on the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) in the Powai area. A distress call was made to the forest department on Monday morning and a team was sent to the spot to investigate if the sighting was of concern, the official said.
Leopards are generally nocturnal. Sightings during the day are not very common, he said.
However, as the IIT-B is located close to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park there are chances of sightings in the day too. Moreover, with the drop in temperature in the last 48 hours and the cold wave alert, leopards can be spotted during the day, he said.
After being informed, the personnel of police and forest departments reached the spot and started the rescue operation. The animal was tranquilized and caged and taken to the forest department office, he said.
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