New Delhi | At least five people were injured in an attack by a leopard which strayed into a village in north Delhi's Wazirabad on Monday morning, triggering panic among the locals, officials said.
Efforts are underway to rescue the leopard that has been locked in a room after it jumped from the terrace of a house and barged into the next building in the Jagatpur village, they said.
Videos on social media showed the leopard being chased by some people and others running in panic.
According to the Delhi Fire Service, information about the incident was received around 6.20 am and two fire tenders were sent to the spot. "With the help of the locals, the officials locked the leopard in a room. The injured were sent to a hospital," Delhi Fire Service (DFS) chief Atul Garg said.
A resident said the leopard was first spotted around 4.30 am and a PCR call was made at 5.15 am. It tried to attack over a dozen people and injured some of them, he said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) M K Meena said a call about the leopard entering a house was received from Jagatpur village, following which the local police reached the spot and forest department officials were informed.
Police said that five people were injured in the leopard attack and three of them have been identified as Mahender, Akash and Rampal.
Seven personnel of the forest department, a team from the Delhi Fire Department along with the local police are present at the spot. The leopard has been locked in a room and rescue operations are underway, the DCP said.
A local said the village is surrounded by jungle but there is no fencing or any kind of security.
On December 1 last year, a leopard was sighted at Sainik Farms in South Delhi with some videos showing the spotted big cat strolling in the lanes of the residential area. It was last seen on December 6 and the forest department suspected it had returned to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. A week later, a leopard was killed after being hit by a car on the National Highway 44 near Khatushyam temple in north Delhi's Alipur