A leopard strayed into a village in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district early on Monday, causing panic among residents and triggering a four-hour rescue operation from wildlife officials. Members of the rescue team had a narrow escape after the wild cat breached the tiled roof of a house in Ballarpur village where it was hiding. Footage of the incident showed the leopard breaking free from the roof and attacking everyone in its way.

“The leopard was trapped inside a stable and we had secured all exits. We reached the roof and removed tiles to get a view of it to shoot the tranquiliser. “All of a sudden the leopard took the help of a pillar and leapt over 8 feet into the air. It breached the roof and attacked me,” said 33-year-old Bandu Dhotre, an animal rescue expert from Chandrapur. However, other stick-wielding members chased the leopard into an empty bathroom. The asbestos roof of the bathroom was breached and the tranquiliser duly shot, leading to the animal’s capture. Dhotre said he had conducted over 50 operations to rescue wild creatures, but this was the first time that he had been attacked.