A leopard hiding in the Srinagar Medical College building in Uttarakhand for the past two days was shot dead in “self-defence” on Tuesday after it attacked a group of forest department personnel who were struggling to capture it, an official said here.
Six injured
Six persons suffered minor injuries in the attack by the leopard. Two security guards and a college employee were also injured on Sunday when the animal entered the college premises creating a scare, Conservator of Forests (Garhwal Range) Nitya Nand Pandey said.
Mr. Pandey, who was among the forest department officials supervising the operation, said they had launched a room-to-room search in the four-storey Pharmacology block.
“The search was launched this morning presuming that the leopard was still hiding in block adjoining the forests as no one had seen it leaving. Firecrackers were burst to force the leopard to come out,” Mr. Pandey said.
‘Self-defence’
The leopard jumped out of one of the rooms and pounced on the forest personnel, he said. “Joy Hukil, a government-appointed hunter, had to shoot at the leopard in self-defence,” he said.
The leopard was shot twice and it died on the spot, he said. Services of government-appointed hunters have to be taken often during such operations, the official said.