A leopard strayed into a residential area at Panchali area of Dibrugarh town on Thursday triggering panic among the residents.
The leopard attacked an injured one Lakhindra Rai. He was rushed to Assam Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
Rai was injured on his hand.
According to the forest officials, the big cat was taking shelter under a parked car when it was first spotted by a local at around 8.45 am.
The people began to make noise which panicked the feline and it began running from one place to another.
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Reacting to the hue and cry, the leopard leapt out from its resting place and dashed into the house of one Tiklu Khan sending the entire family into a tizzy.
The petrified family somehow managed to lock themselves inside the bedroom as the leopard kept prowling inside the living room knocking down several objects.
Hearing their screams, a huge crowd gathered and tried to shoo away the big cat.
The cornered animal, however, sprung out of the house and tried to escape by jumping over the gate.
An onlooker, identified as Lakhinder Rai, was injured as the feline pounced on him while trying to flee.
Rai, who suffered deep injuries on his left hand, was rushed to the Assam Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
The big cat, meanwhile, was found to be hiding in the ceiling of a vacant house and finally, after a chase of eight-hour, a team of Wildlife Trust of India and forest department managed to tranquilise and cage the animal.
The leopard was tranquilised and taken to the forest office.
“A veterinary team is attending the animal. It will be kept under observation for some time before being released,” informed Dibrugarh forest ranger Nareswar Das.
The leopard is 2-year-old and forest officials informed that the animal was a bit dehydrated and there were no injury signs.
“We will decide soon where to release it in the forest. We will do another check-up before releasing it,” said WTI veterinary surgeon Khanin Changmai.
The leopard is suspected to have strayed into the residential area from the Brahmaputra Chapori (sandbar).
The area where the leopard was sighted is situated just 300 metres from the Brahmaputra river.