GUWAHATI: An adult leopard which strayed into a women’s hostel in the Hengrabari area here on Monday morning was rescued after a four-hour-long operation conducted by a joint team comprising forest and police personnel.
There was panic among residents of the locality with one of them first locating the leopard early in the morning.
According to sources, the animal was hiding under a cane sofa on the verandah of the multi-storey hostel for quite some time.
One member of the rescue team had to finally get to a vantage point (with the help of a ladder) to take a shot and safely tranquilise the leopard. A net was also kept ready at the entrance of the hostel.
The tranquilised leopard was put inside a cage and safely taken to the Assam state zoo.
Forest department sources said the leopard would be released in a forest later after a check-up (to ascertain if it sustained any injuries) at the state zoo.
“Another successful operation today as we safely rescued an Indian leopard which took shelter in a hostel in Hengrabari, Guwahati. The success can be attributed to the timely intervention of our Assam State Zoo, Wildlife Division and Territorial Division staff and police team,” Assam forest and environment minister Parimal Suklabaidya later took to Twitter to inform about the rescue operation.
