A wild leopard mauled two persons after it sneaked into a residential area in Siliguri located in the northern end of Siliguri on Monday morning was rescued by foresters after a couple of hours.

In recent times, this is the second incident when a leopard has been found straying into residential places. A few days back, the body of a female leopard was fished out of a well in Milan More, also located in the northern parts of the city, after it strayed into the area and fell into it.

Around 10am, some residents of Samarnagar spotted the animal wandering in a local field. As they raised an alert, the big cat panicked and attacked them. Also, it mauled a couple of onlookers and then took refuge in a house.

“The leopard ran into my house and took refuge on the stairs. Immediately, we locked the entrance of the building so that it couldn’t move out and informed police at Pradhannagar police station,” said Prabir Guha, a resident of Samarnagar that is in ward 46 of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

The duo attacked by the animal suffered minor injuries and were provided with necessary treatment, sources said.

According to sources, it was a full grown male leopard, aged around four years.

As the news spread, locals started swarming in front of Guha’s house, trying to catch a glimpse of the animal.

“It was a rare occasion to see a leopard live, that too, from a close distance. Many people were clicking photos and shooting videos in their cell phones as the restless animal continued to growl, standing on the staircase,” said an eyewitness.

A police team rushed to the spot and but found it tough to clear the area. They were seen repeatedly requested the curious mob to maintain a safe distance to avoid any further attack by the leopard.

The drama continued for some more time and finally, at Around 11am, a team from the wildlife squad stationed in Sukna under Kurseong forest division – located around 10km from Siliguri – reached the house of Guha and rescued the animal.

Sources said the foresters first covered the entire building with nets so that the animal could not escape come out of itand then After some time, they could successfully darted the big cat. As the big cat turned unconscious, the foresters used another net to wrap it. The tranquillised leopard was then put in a vehicle and taken to the Bengal Safari Park in located on the northwest end of Siliguri.

“We have rescued the animal. It will be kept under observation at the Bengal Safari Park for the next couple of days,” said S. Sherpa, the divisional forest officer of Kurseong forest division.