Leopard enters Bengal town, captured

A leopard entered a town in West Bengal's Uttar Dinjapur district on Monday and injured several persons before it was confined to a house and caught, an official said.

The animal's sighting in Raiganj led to panic among the residents and it also injured some people before it was finally confined in a house, Chief Wildlife Warden Pradeep Vyas told IANS.

"A team from Sukhna (in north Bengal) was dispatched to tranquilise the animal which had been locked up inside a house it entered and a nylon net was put up around the room in the house to prevent it from escaping," he said.

Confirming that a number of people had been injured, Vyas, also the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in Bengal, said that that the local Forest Department officials faced difficulty in subduing the animal as they are not experienced in handling leopards.

He said that they suspect the leopard was from neighbouring Bihar because there are no leopards in that part of Bengal.

"The captured big cat has been sent to the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in north Bengal," he added.

--IANS

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