Leopard strays into Kolhapur bungalow

Residents of the Ruikar Colony here were greeted by an unusual New Year guest early Thursday - a leopard!

Unknown to the residents, many of whom were in deep slumber after the New Year's Eve celebrations, a leopard sneaked into one of the bungalows here from the nearby forests, officials said.

It was spotted at daybreak, quietly hiding under a sofa in the bungalow, which is opposite the bungalow of Nationalist Congress Party MP Dhananjay Mahadik.

On sighting it, the bungalow residents ran out screaming for help, attracting the people in the entire residential complex.

Alarmed by the sudden commotion, the leopard lunged out of the bungalow into a small clearing in the compound and injured one person, Pramod Desai as the people ran helter-skelter to safety.

Later, some people summoned the local forest department officials who rushed to the colony and laid a trap for the strayed large cat, even as local police arrived and kept the huge crowds at bay.

Soon afterwards, a forest department team succeeded in trapping the leopard and took it away, to release it in the deep jungles on the outskirts of the town.

Barring one injury, the five-hour leopard drama proved to be a memorable start to 2015 for the people of this prosperous town in western Maharashtra.