Locals, who found the leopard moving about among the shrubs in the drain around 6 am, panicked at first. Later, they found that the big cat wasn’t leaving the place as it was severely injured.
Some of them informed the police and the forest officials. But the officials took around three hours to come to the spot. By that time, a large crowd had gathered around the drain.
Panicked at seeing the swelling crowd, the animal made a futile bid to pounce on them. At this stage, some people tried to throw stones at the leopard. The forest personnel came to the spot even as the animal hid among the shrubs.
Before they could capture the big cat in a net they had spread, it had died. Veterinarian Dr Janardhan said that the leopard may have died of a brain haemorrhage. It may have injured its leg while hunting for its prey, said A E Dharmappa, conservator of forests.
However, some villagers said the animal was injured, after being hit by a speeding
vehicle.
