Three labourers working in an under-construction building in Fazalpur area in Cantonment here were injured in an attack by a leopard, which has created panic in the city prompting authorities to shut all schools today.
The injured trio has been admitted to a hospital where their condition was stated to be out of danger, District Magistrate Pankaj Yadav told PTI.
The feline was last morning spotted near the Army hospital in the Cantonment area. Army jawans had informed senior officials of the presence of the leopard in human settlements following which police and forest officials rushed to the spot.
A team of forest officials is trying to tranquilise the wild cat which was last spotted in the JCO mess of Army in the Cantonment adjoining Fazalpur, SSP D K Dubey said.
The team of experts which has been assigned the task of capturing the feline includes forest officials from Delhi, Bengal and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Dubey said.
All schools in the city uptill standard XII today remained closed as panic gripped the city after the leopard was spotted yesterday.
Locals have been advised not to move out of their houses, the DM said.
A team of forest officials from Bareilly last night shot tranquiliser darts into the leopard who was spotted sitting on a tree in the Army hospital complex. The big cat, however, managed to escape, Yadav said.
This is the third incident of a leopard entering human settlements in Meerut. Previously the big cat was spotted in 1995 and 2014.
(REOPEN MES1)
Meanwhile, Coimbatore District Collector Archana Patnaik today convened a meeting to discuss the strategy to capture and translocate the rogue elephant.
She discussed the issue with officials,including District Forest Officer K Periyasami and District Revenue Officer, Christ Raj, officials said.
Based on complaints from the public,particularly farmers, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests had ordered translocation of the elephant, which has killed at least three persons and destroyed agriculture produce worth lakhs.
Accordingly, Senior Forest Department officials and veterinarians from Coimbatore and Nilgiris district were deputed to the range yesterday to commence operations.
Meanwhile, one more Kumki (trained elephant), Paari from Chadivayal camp in the district today joined another Kumki, Vijay, aged 45 years brought yesterday from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Nilgiris district, for the purpose, they said.
