Residents of several villages in Prayagraj can finally breathe a sigh of relief after a leopard that haunted their lives for half a year was captured in a dramatic operation. The big cat's reign of terror ended on Thursday when it was cornered inside a house in Chibaiya village, leading to a swift response from police and forest officials.
Three Hours of Panic and a Brave Response
The final chapter of the leopard's saga unfolded over three intense hours in Chibaiya. The animal was first spotted near a village pond, where it attacked two villagers. Instead of fleeing, the local community showed remarkable courage. They chased the leopard until it sought refuge inside a house.
The house belonged to SK Singh, a local battery dealer, and was occupied by women and children at the time. Panic erupted immediately. Thinking quickly, villagers shut the main door from the outside, trapping the leopard inside the building. Some family members were also trapped inside and locked themselves in a separate room for safety.
In a coordinated rescue effort, the villagers managed to bring everyone to safety one by one through a window. This brave action prevented any human casualties during the critical period before authorities arrived.
A Six-Month Saga of Fear and Evasion
This was not an isolated incident but the culmination of a prolonged period of fear. For the past six months, the leopard had kept the Ganga kachar area and at least four villages—including Kotwa, Chibaiya, Bahadurpur, and others—on high alert.
Its presence was first noted in August of the previous year in Kotwa and Bahadurpur. The leopard's activities were both destructive and injurious. It left several villagers wounded and killed numerous livestock, disrupting daily life and robbing people of peaceful sleep.
The forest department had been actively trying to capture the elusive animal. They set up cages in strategic locations, but the leopard consistently outsmarted these traps, roaming freely across a large area. It was sighted and reported on multiple occasions:
- August 10: Injured a villager in Malkhanpur.
- Spotted near Ratoura pond in Sudnipur.
- September 3: Villagers reported sightings near Bhiteshwar temple in Sudnipur.
- September 8: Injured another villager in Jamunipur.
- Later seen in Dalapur and Jhunsi for several days.
Swift Action by Authorities Ends the Threat
Once the leopard was contained inside the house in Chibaiya, the villagers alerted the authorities. A team from the forest department, along with police from Jhunsi station, arrived promptly at the scene.
Station Officer (Jhunsi) Mahesh Mishra confirmed that the area was quickly cordoned off. The forest department team then successfully tranquilized the leopard inside the house, bringing a definitive end to the six-month-long ordeal for the local population.
The collaborative effort between the brave villagers, the police, and the forest department finally resolved a situation that had caused widespread anxiety and danger across multiple rural communities in Prayagraj.
