Video Editor: Rajbir Singh
Parts of Lucknow lived in terror for about three days when a leopard was spotted prowling in the bylanes of the city. At least seven people were injured in the attacks of the stray leapord.
Several CCTV footage and videos shot by civilians show the wild cat roaming in the Gudumba area, comprising Kalyanpur, Paharpur, Adil Nagar, Phool Bagh, and Jankipuram.
Out of fear, people, in the densely populated area where the leapord was seen wandering, started recited “Hanuman Chalisa”, locked themselves up and played loud music.
A team of forest officials made an extensive operation to trap the feline, who was believed to have strayed into the city from the adjoining jungles of Barabanki district. The police and forest officials asked the residents to be aware and avoid stepping outside the house as the leopard's whereabouts were not known. There were rumours of more than one leopard prowling, but the same has been denied.
“The leopard has not been sighted since the last 36 hours, but five teams of forest officials are still deployed as a precaution,” said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ravi Kumar Singh in a press release issued on Monday, 27 December.
Movement of leopard:
According to DFO Singh, the leapord was first seen on 24 December at 11 pm in Jankipuram 60 feet road. Then, after 2 hours on 25 December 1 am, the wild cat was recorded in the CCTV footage of SR Hospital and Pooja Nursing Home in Kalyanpur area. Later, the CCTV camera of Presidency School caught the leapord roaming there at 4 pm, followed by the sighting in a vacant plot in Kalyanpur at 6 pm.
The leopard is believed to have found its way back to the forest.
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