A leopard entered a house in the national Capital’s Wazirabad area in daylight, creating panic among the residents, and injured at least eight people on Monday morning. According to officials, the leopard had jumped from the terrace of a house in Jagatpur village early in the morning and barged into the next building where it was locked in a room.

Videos on social media showed the leopard being chased by some people and others running in panic. The leopard attacked eight persons who have been identified as Mahender, Akash, Nitin, Pankaj, Nasir, Vipin, Satish and Nishu, all residents of the village.

Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg said the leopard was later rescued. According to the Delhi Fire Service, information about the incident was received around 6.20 am and two fire tenders were sent to the spot. “With the help of the locals, the officials locked the leopard in a room. The injured were sent to a hospital,” Garg said.

A resident said the leopard was first spotted around 4.30 am and a PCR call was made at 5.15 am. It tried to attack over a dozen people and injured some of them, he said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) M K Meena said a call about the leopard entering a house was received from Jagatpur village, following which the local police reached the spot and forest department officials were informed.

Seven persons from the Forest Team and a team from the Fire Department along with local police were present on the spot. The leopard was contained in a room and subsequently, it was rescued from the area.

A local said the village is surrounded by jungle but there is no fencing or any other kind of security.

The family of Mahender Singh, a retired government employee, woke up on Monday morning to find an unexpected guest in their house — a leopard. The animal injured his two sons, Singh, his two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren had a narrow escape.

“Around 8 am, I saw the leopard and went to my neighbour’s house. I did not notice that the main gate of my house was open and that the animal went inside,” he said.

“When my elder son Vipin came out of the washroom, he was attacked by the leopard from behind. Later, the animal attacked my younger son Nitin. After this, we went outside and tried to attack the leopard but it entered a room which we locked from outside,” said Singh, who sustained minor injuries in the incident. Singh said his four grandchildren were asleep inside the house when the leopard went in but they were unharmed as their room was locked from outside.

On December 1 last year, a leopard was sighted at Sainik Farms in South Delhi with some videos showing the spotted big cat strolling in the lanes of the residential area. It was last seen on December 6 and the Forest Department suspected it had returned to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. A week later, a leopard was killed after being hit by a car on National Highway 44 near Khatushyam temple in north Delhi’s Alipur.

Last week, a forest guard Kailas Bhalerao from Junnar forest division was injured in a leopard attack during a rescue operation. Before the incident, a bike rider, who was crossing the Pune - Nashik Highway near Alephata, was injured in an attack reportedly by the same leopard. As per reports, there have been multiple leopard sightings in various areas in Junnar.

In March, a netizen shared a video of four leopards who had reportedly ventured in a residential area in Jabalpur. In the video clip, the leopards were seen casually moving around in the area.

Leopards are skilful hunters and can blend in the surroundings. Due to their stealth and great ability to climb structures, these animals are able to sneak into human inhabited areas.