A leopard was spotted in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad on Wednesday, triggering panic among the people. The full-grown leopard was spotted inside a school, forcing the officials to cancel an examination and launch a hunt to catch the big cat. After hours of effort, officials successfully caught the leopard that had entered the school campus.
As per preliminary information, the leopard was spotted around 5 am near the Green Field Public School, affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in the Govindpuram area of Ghaziabad. Later, it was also spotted inside the school's premises. An exam of class 11 was scheduled to be held at the school on Wednesday, which was cancelled after the leopard was spotted.
Teams of forest department and the police have now set up nets around the perimeter of the school to capture the leopard. A video of the leopard near the school has also gone viral. In the video, the big cat could be seen passing through a road near the school.
"The school authority called us around 7:50 in the morning. They shared a video from the outer security camera, showing an animal coming and going. It appears to be a leopard. After spotting the leopard, our team arrived at 8:30 in the morning," Divisional Forest Officer Isha Tiwari said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
"There has not been proper visibility on the premises since arriving. But at 8:30 in the morning, the staff reported that they felt something was hiding inside the boundary walls. Therefore, we cordoned off the entire school area. Our tranquilization team is on its way... The school has been closed since morning... As soon as any movement is seen, we will take further action," Tiwari added.
Leopard spotted in Jaipur
Leopard spotting in residential areas have become quite common in India, with many experts blaming rapid human expansion in forest areas behind this. Earlier this month, a leopard was also spotted in a residential area in Jaipur after which forest officials launched a probe.
CCTV footage had also surfaced in which the leopard was spotted in the Surya City Colony on Agra Road. Later, the officials issued a safety alert and asked the locals to remain vigilant, especially during the night.
With inputs from Zuber Akhtar
