Leopard scare in Dera Bassi village

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Dera Bassi, May 19

Panic gripped Janetpur village after a group of workers saw a leopard in the fields this morning.

Eyewitnesses said they were working in the field around 10 am when they hear loud grunts of an animal. As they went close to check, a leopard jumped out of a field and ran towards a sunflower field. Shocked workers ran helter skelter to save themselves from a possible attack.

Devinagar resident Kamla said, “She was working in the fields with some labourers when she heard grunts and a big animal jumped out of the bushes and ran towards the sunflower field. We were terrified and ran to save our lives.”

Later, they raised the alarm following which a large number of people gathered at the spot.

Police officials too reached there to control the situation.

Local residents inspected the field with the help of a tractor to scare away the animal but found nothing. Later, forest officials set up traps in the sunflower field to catch the feline.

Workers said their children often played in the fields as they lived nearby and they were in a state of terror.

Former sarpanch Balbir Singh Balla said the villagers had been asked to remain vigilant at night. The villagers, including him, expressed a surprise that the cages set up to catch the leopard do not have any bait or meat to lure the feline.