Leopard strays into Thane house; caught after 10 hours

She immediately locked the room and the family alerted local police and forest personnel.Residents of the village, having a population of around 250, panicked after getting to know about the carnivore venturing into the house.Forest officials and a team from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park later reached the house.

A leopard strayed into a house in Maharashtra's Thane district, triggering panic in the residential locality, a forest official said on Wednesday.

Forest officials managed to catch the feline after more than 10 hours on Tuesday, he said. The leopard entered the house located at Umbarkhand village in Sahapur taluka around 4 am on Tuesday.

A woman family member was shocked to find the big cat resting in a room of their house. She immediately locked the room and the family alerted local police and forest personnel.

Residents of the village, having a population of around 250, panicked after getting to know about the carnivore venturing into the house.

Forest officials and a team from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park later reached the house. They tranquilised the leopard and took it away for release into a forest, the official said.

It was found to be a two-year-old female leopard, he said.

No one was injured by the feline, the official said, adding that it entered the residential area possibly in search of a prey.