Leopard spotted near Nashik bungalow trapped after 8 hours

A leopard which was spotted moving near a bungalow in Nashik city of Maharashtra on Sunday morning was trapped by forest department officials after an 8-hour effort at 3:30pm.

The leopard was caught from a shed covering the terrace of an apartment in Savarkar Nagar locality near Gangapur Road police station, an official said.

He added that a forest department staff was injured in the face in the process of trapping the big cat.

It was first spotted at around 7:30am Sunday by some people who come in the early hours of the day to various bungalows in the locality to do household chores, the official informed.

It was also captured on a CCTV camera, installed at a bungalow here, crossing Colony Road in the crowded locality, officials said.

Residents alerted Gangapur police station officials who in turn called in the forest department staff.

Before being trapped by forest department staff in a nylon net, the leopard had moved through Architect Colony and Maitra Manohar Colony in the locality, an official said.

After being sedated, it was moved out of the area in a forest department van and officials said it would be released in the wild after being given a mandatory medical check-up.

On January 25, a leopard had strayed in the same area and injured a local politician and two media personnel, police earlier said.

The carnivore was later caught by forest officials.

The western part of Nashik district has dense forests which are home to several wild animals including leopards, wolves, hyenas and foxes, a forest official said.