The forest department officials have caught a leopard that entered the Gujarat government secretariat in Gandhinagar earlier on Monday. The officials had launched a search operation as soon as the wild cat was spotted sneaking into the high-security building.
The secretariat houses the offices of Gujarat chief minister and chief secretary, besides those of other ministers, senior bureaucrats and government departments.
The forest officials caught the animal using tranquiliser. Earlier, the CCTV footage had showed the leopard entering the building complex from beneath a locked gate around 2am. The employees and officials were asked not to enter the complex in the morning.
Rajeev Kumar Gupta, additional chief secretary, forest department said the leopard might have lost its way and entered the premises. He said leopards are part of the wildlife found in 40 to 50 sq.km area surrounding the state capital.
The incident comes days after a tigress named Avni was shot dead as a last resort in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
The tigress was shot after all attempts to tranquilise her failed. Officials said there was unrest among local farmers and adivasis after she had reportedly killed 13 people in the past two years.
