Leopard on the loose in Meerut yet to be caught, injures seven people
Officials are yet to catch a leopard that escaped into Meerut city late Sunday night and injured at least seven people, including a police official.
The city is on high alert after the animal, who was trapped inside a room of the cantonment hospital, escaped during a rescue operation by wildlife experts around midnight.
The leopard was first spotted at a timber shop in Sadar area on Sunday afternoon, from where it entered the nearby cantonment hospital and was locked inside a room. A team of wildlife experts was summoned from Afzalgarh to capture the animal, who escaped after breaking a window in the room.
The leopard was then spotted at a commercial complex in the posh Abulane market on Monday morning. The CCTV footage showed that the animal entered the complex around 3am. A team of the Wildlife Trust of India reached the market along with forest officials, but failed to locate the animal.
Forest officials and additional staff from five districts have been called for assistance, said divisional forest officer Sudhanshu Sharma.
Senior superintendent of police Onkar Singh said, "We have been urging the public not to go near the animal, but some of them went close out of curiosity and the animal attacked them"
Seven people sustained minor injuries, including Sadar police station house officer Gajendra Pal, who had to get seven stitches on the shoulder.
Schools and colleges in the city were closed while the examinations scheduled for Monday were postponed. Most shops in and around Sadar area were also shut.
"It is a robust animal who broke the window to escape from the hospital room," said chief conservator of forests (west zone) SK Rastogi.
"We are expecting the leopard to venture out at night and are prepared to trap him."
Leopard breaks the cemented window of the ward and escapes. (HT Photo/Chahatram)
Hundreds of people had gathered outside the commercial complex where the animal was last seen, and police faced a hard time dispersing the crowds.
"My guard saw the animal walking in the alleys of Abulane market after it escaped from the cantonment hospital late Sunday night," said Shashi Agarwal, owner of Chulha Chowka restaurant at Abulane market.
Teams of police and administrative officials have also been formed to patrol the town, and residents have been asked to immediately inform police or the forest department if they spot the animal.
A person injured by the leopard. (HT Photo/Chahatra
This, however, is not the first instance of a big cat coming face to face with humans in an urban setting. Several incidents in the past have raised concerns about the depleting habitats for big cats, which is forcing them into populated areas.
We show you a collection of photos of past incidents of leopards at close quarters with man:
February 10, 2014: A leopard being shot dead by the army after the cat attacked a patrolling party at a village in south Kashmir's Anantnag district. (Photo with special arrangement. Greater Kashmir/Sajad Muniwardi)
Pictures of a leopard sitting on a wall near an industrial area in Ranipur range of Rajaji National Park. (Amit Verma/Hindustan Times)
April 4, 2013: A leopard looking up from within a well in a residential area of Guwahati, before being tranquilsed and taken to Guwahati Zoo. The fully grown cat caused a major scare in the area. (AFP Photo)
March 30, 2013: Forest guards carrying a fully grown leopard after tranquillising the animal in a residential area near Kalipur in Guwahati. The fully grown leopard was wandering through a part of the densely populated city when curious crowds startled the animal. (AFP Photo)
June 20, 2012: A fully grown male wild leopard bites a net after falling into a water reservoir tank at a tea estate in Haskhowa, some 45 kms from Siliguri. The animal was rescued by the Sukna Forest rescue team from the Mahananda Wildlife sanctuary by lowering a ladder and a net into the tank. (AFP Photo)
January 27, 2012: Full grown leopard being kept in a cage, at Assam state Zoo after it was captured on the prowl Lalunggaon in Lakhara area of Guwahati. The leopard mauled two people including a pregnant woman after straying into the city. (AFP Photo)
January 7, 2012: A leopard attacking, wounding a labourer in a residential neighbourhood of Silphukhuri area in Guwahati. Three people were seriously injured in the leopard attack before the feline was tranquilized and taken to Assam state zoo. (AFP Photo)
January 07, 2012: A leopard, which attacked a person (R) in a residential colony in Guwahati, being taken away after being tranquillized by zoo officials. The leopard injured three persons. (PTI Photo)
January 7, 2012: A photo of the tiger being carried away after being tranquilised. (AFP Photo)
July 19, 2011: A forest guard aiming his rifle as on being attacked by a wild leopard at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara on the outskirts of Siliguri. Six people were mauled by the leopard after the feline strayed into the village area before it was caught by forestry department officials. (AFP Photo)
July 19, 2011: The same leopard attacking another forest guard at the village. Six people were mauled by the leopard after the feline strayed into the village area before it was caught by forestry department officials. (AFP Photo)
March 4, 2010: A female leopard being carried away after it had to be rescued from the residential area of Kahilipara in Guwahati by zoological officials who took her to Assam State Zoo. (AFP Photo)
March 28, 2009: An Assam state Zoo veterinarian carrying a tranquilised leopard from a well in Guwahati after the animal fell into the well in a village on the outskirts of the city. The fully grown female leopard was later taken to the Guwahati Zoo. (AFP Photo)
March 15, 2009: A leopard walking with a tranquiliser dart in the residential area of Jyotikuchi in Guwahati. Three people were mauled by the cat after it strayed into the city before it was tranquilised by forestry department officials. The full grown male leopard was wandering through a part of the densely populated city when curious crowds startled the animal. (AFP Photo)
03 February 2007: A forest department official carrying a leopard after it was tranquilized in Guwahati. The cat mauled three people after straying into the city. (AFP Photo)
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