A leopard strayed into the house of a farmer in Naganahalli village, Tumkur, creating a big scare among the residents.
Baskarachari, a farmer in the area, woke up to the relentless barks of his dog around 1 am. When he opened the door, he found a leopard dragging away his dog. The big cat had already killed two sheep form a herd of 50 belonging to Baskarachari.
The shocked farmer alerted his family members and led them to safety through the back door of the house, while the leopard entered through the front door.
"When I saw the leopard, I didn't know what to do for two minutes. Then I opened the door slowly. My family members started shouting loudly and then the big cat entered the house," Baskarachari told The Times of India.
The panicked family members locked the doors from outside and called the forest department. Volunteers from BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) Forest Cell climbed onto the roof of the house and dangled a cell phone, with video recording switched on, into every room to track where the leopard was located.
When the cell phone was suspending in one of the rooms, the leopard snatched it giving away its hiding place. Scared at the sight of onlookers gathered around the house, the animal hid under a bed in a small room, reported Deccan Chronicle.
One of the rescue workers entered the house, and with the help of experts led by veterinarian Dr Chettiyappa from the Bannerghatta National Park, they tranquilised the leopard. The big cat, which is about nine years old, was later released in the Muthathi (or Muttatti) forest near Malavalli in Karnataka.
This is not the first time that the fully-grown leopard had visited the village. According to the villagers, the wild animal had earlier frequented the place and killed livestock.
