Dawn scare as leopard enters Siddhartha Nagar home, rescued

Mysuru: A three-year-old leopard that sneaked into a house in Siddhartha Layout in Siddhartha Nagar, close to Chamundi Hills, was safely rescued by forest personnel after a three-hour operation Friday.The leopard was captured by a 20-member team from the Leopard Task Force and the forest department, DCF K Paramesh told TOI. The animal was sedated with a tranquilliser dart and rescued from the house, he said. The leopard is likely to be released back into the forest.The incident came to light around 10am, after a domestic help spotted the leopard under a cot while cleaning a room in the house of Suresh, a retired official. Homemaker Sujatha said she immediately moved her 90-year-old mother-in-law, Shailaja, out of the room and locked it. "We alerted the foresters," she stated.At the time of the incident, Sujatha and Shailaja were the only occupants of the house. The leopard had entered Shailaja's room without being noticed by the family, according to Sujatha.Forest officials said they had received a complaint around 7am about a leopard sighting in Siddhartha Layout and launched a search operation. The animal later went missing. Around 10am, officials received a call from a resident reporting that a leopard had entered a house adjoining the Teresian educational institution campus in east Mysuru.Foresters said the leopard may have strayed from Chamundi Hills, located less than 1 km from the spot.