Officials trap leopard in suburban residence

Nashik, Jan 7 (UNI) A leopard, that had strayed into a house in Roza colony in Nashik Road suburb of the city, was trapped after nearly six hours by officials of the forest and police departments here today.

The leopard had entered the house of 70-year-old S G Mantode at around 0745 hrs when he and his sister Veronica Mantode (65) were inside the house.

The animal headed straight to the bathroom of the house without harming anyone. Subsequently, Veronica locked the door of the bathroom. Meanwhile, the other residents informed the police and forest departments about the wild cat's arrival.

Sandhya Sonawane, another resident of the area, who shares a common compound wall with the Mantode family, said she saw the leopard first and informed the Mantode's about it. She claimed she had helped the old people to come out of the house and lock the leopard in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, the Forest Department employees reached the spot and injected five tranquilizers to the leopard. Though the tranquilizer failed to make the leopard completely unconscious, it helped Uday Gangurde, a policemen to trap the leopard in a net.

It took around six hours for the Forest Department officials and police to trap the leopard.

A large crowd gathered in the area as the arrival of leopard in such a densely populated area was a unusual happening.

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