<p>A curfew like situation prevailed in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut town, about 500 kilometres from here, after a stray leopard which had entered a hospital in the cantonment area on Sunday, escaped on Monday morning and was said to be on the loose.<br /><br /></p>.<p>As panic spread in the town, the district authorities ordered closure of all educational institutions and shops in the town and a massive search operation has been launched to trace the elusive big cat.<br /><br />“We have ordered closure of schools, colleges and markets as a precautionary measure”, the officials said, adding that experts have reached the town to nab the leopard. <br /><br />“People have been asked to remain indoors”, they added.<br /><br />The leopard, which was said to have strayed into town from the nearby forests, had managed to escape after being trapped in a room in the hospital at dawn on Monday and was seen loitering around a market complex a little later, sources said.<br /><br />At least half a dozen people were injured in a bid to save themselves from the big cat. <br /><br />The leopard kept running here and there as the people threw stones while some tried to hit it with sticks.<br /> <br />Unconfirmed reports said that the cops, who were called in to control the animal, also fired at it, creating further panic.The leopard had entered the male ward in a hospital in the cantonment area on Sunday afternoon and was trapped inside till Monday morning.<br /></p>
<p>A curfew like situation prevailed in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut town, about 500 kilometres from here, after a stray leopard which had entered a hospital in the cantonment area on Sunday, escaped on Monday morning and was said to be on the loose.<br /><br /></p>.<p>As panic spread in the town, the district authorities ordered closure of all educational institutions and shops in the town and a massive search operation has been launched to trace the elusive big cat.<br /><br />“We have ordered closure of schools, colleges and markets as a precautionary measure”, the officials said, adding that experts have reached the town to nab the leopard. <br /><br />“People have been asked to remain indoors”, they added.<br /><br />The leopard, which was said to have strayed into town from the nearby forests, had managed to escape after being trapped in a room in the hospital at dawn on Monday and was seen loitering around a market complex a little later, sources said.<br /><br />At least half a dozen people were injured in a bid to save themselves from the big cat. <br /><br />The leopard kept running here and there as the people threw stones while some tried to hit it with sticks.<br /> <br />Unconfirmed reports said that the cops, who were called in to control the animal, also fired at it, creating further panic.The leopard had entered the male ward in a hospital in the cantonment area on Sunday afternoon and was trapped inside till Monday morning.<br /></p>
