A leopard strayed into automobile major Maruti's Manesar plant here on Thursday morning and efforts are on to catch it.
The leopard, suspected to have entered from company's Gate no. 2, was first spotted by security guard Dharambir Singh outside the guard's room around 3:30 a.m.
The guard ran towards the room on spotting the feline and made a call to the company's Control Room.
Around 350 workers inside the plant were evacuated and the police were informed. Two teams of forest department reached the plant later carrying nets and traquiliser to rescue the leopard.
Production suffered in the plant as the morning shift starting at 6:30 am was suspended.
A view of the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar. File | Photo Credit: Manoj Kumar
"We got to know about the incident while on our way to work in the company's bus. At reaching the plant, we were not allowed inside. Around 2,000 workers work in the morning shift," said a worker outside the plant, not willing to be named.
Maruti Udyog Kamgaar Union general-secretary Kuldeep Jhangu said that the leopard was spotted in nearby Kasan village a couple of days ago, but the administration made no efforts to catch it.
The police said efforts were on to catch the animal. "It is difficult to find the animal in the sprawling plant. We are trying to locate his position with the help of CCTV cameras," said Station House officer, IMT Manesar, Narender Kumar.