Leopard rescued from Ghaziabad court taken to Shivalik forest

Abhishek Awasthi.

Ghaziabad: Officials stated on Thursday that the forest department has moved the leopard that had wandered inside the district court complex and assaulted ten persons to the Shivalik jungles in Saharanpur district, where it will be released into the wild. “The department has asked the chief wildlife warden of Lucknow for permission to release the wild cat,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Manish Singh said. He stated that it is impossible to determine where the animal fled from because Ghaziabad lacks a designated forest area. “We’re attempting to track the leopard’s footsteps to figure out where it went. The animal must have wandered from the Garh Mukteshwar jungles, which are around 70 kilometres distant,” he went on to say.On Wednesday, the animal attacked and injured ten persons inside the district court complex, causing panic and a four-hour search by police and the forest department. It was eventually tranquillized and removed. This is not the first time a wild animal has wandered close to human settlements in the area. A leopard was spotted roaming in the affluent Raj Nagar society, near to the district court, in November 2021. A leopard was killed in January of this year after being hit by a speeding vehicle on the Delhi Meerut Expressway near Kalcheena village in the area. Those injured in the leopard attack on Wednesday are being treated, according to DCP City Nipun Agarwal.