This leopard is still being hunted in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

A leopard that has strayed into Meerut town in Uttar Pradesh and attacked eight people has not been found since Sunday.Schools and colleges, which were shut yesterday due to a scare, reopened today but policemen are standing guard everywhere in the city a little over an hour's drive from the capital.The cat was last seen late on Sunday night, when it jumped out of a hospital and escaped despite all efforts to subdue or tranquilize it. Meerut's police have spread out in search of the animal that reportedly strayed into a cinema hall and an apartment block on Monday."We are trying to track leopard prints. It is mentally agitated and angry so we are ready with all equipment to capture it. It may have hidden in any forest area," said Mr Satya Narayan, Deputy Inspector General.The chase began on Sunday morning when the leopard was spotted in a crowded area in the city's Cantonment.It attacked two men and caused such panic that the police had to use batons to try and control the crowd.Six people including a photographer were hurt. When the police reportedly fired a shot in the air, the leopard jumped on rooftops and walls till it entered a hospital.The animal walked into a ward where five patients were admitted. The hospital staff managed to take the patients out and lock the leopard in.Wildlife officers reportedly managed to fire a tranquilizer dart into the animal but after several hours, it managed to escape through a window and vanished into the dark.

Meerut administration officials say wild cats have been known to stray into settlements from the thick forests nearby, their natural habitat threatened by increasing urbanization.