Bengaluru: It was a terrifying Saturday morning for the residents of a house in Jayanagar East in Tumkur, as they woke up to find a leopard in their midst.
House owner Ranganath was the one who spotted the big cat and trapped it by locking the main door from outside. The two women inside the house quickly locked themselves up in the washroom, after realizing the presence of the leopard.
A few hours ago, the leopard was spotted at a nearby under-construction site. The leopard ran into the house when the forest department officials tried to trap the animal at the construction site. Govindaraju, a forest watcher, got injured during the operation.
The forest officials now faced a daunting task, as they had to catch the big cat, while two women were still trapped inside. The milling crowd outside added to their challenge.
DCF Tumakuru Nagendra Rao, who was involved in the operation, said, “Our first priority was the safety of women inside the house. It took time because we had to carefully check every room. The leopard was later found in the kitchen behind the gas cylinder.”
The wild animal was finally captured and tranquilised, after a nine-hour long high drama. More than 100 officials were deployed for the operation.
“The leopard would have come from the Siddapura forest area. We will be releasing it either at MM hills, Bannerghatta National Park or Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary,” Rao added.
