DEHRADUN: A leopard was shot dead after it strayed into a residential area and attacked two forest department employees leaving them injured in Pauri district.
The big cat last morning entered Babu Rawat's cowshed in Shivalik Nagar and when his family members and workers chased the leopard with lathis, it ran into the fields in Amar Colony area.
A forest department team from Ramnagar armed with tranquiliser guns reached the spot by the afternoon and tried hard to capture the leopard but to no avail.
About 20 minutes after shooting tranquilising darts at the big cat, which hid behind bushes, the team threw a net to trap it but it became aggressive and attacked a forest employee Narendra Rawat and Sub-inspector of Kotdwar range Dhirendra Singh, leaving both of them injured.
A huge crowd of curious onlookers which had gathered at the spot appeared to have further angered the leopard which ran back towards Shivalik Nagar and entered the courtyard of Jagatram Naugain whose wife was sweeping the floors at the time.
Before it could attack her, professional shooter Joy Hukil, who had chased the leopard along with the forest officials, shot it dead.