Part of a man's scalp was ripped off by a wild leopard, which panicked and attacked four people when it walked into a bustling residential area in India.

The fully-grown leopard set upon the group when it walked into a house in a busy neighbourhood of Guwahati, a large city in north-east India.

Attacked ... a man identified as Hari loses part of his scalp as he tries to fight off the leopard. Credit:AFP

Dramatic photos show the leopard lashing out at a man, identified by Indian media as a cook named Hari, whose scalp is severely cut as he tries to fend off the animal.

One man shut the leopard inside the house before forest officials came to sedate it, Britain's Daily Mail reported.