The Lucknow police on Saturday killed a leopard that attacked and injured 10 people including a police officer in the state capital in the past 48 hours. The move has created furor amongst animal activists who want action taken against the cops, who were rewarded for their actions. Following the protests, the reward was taken away.

According to reports, the leopard had entered Lucknow’s Aashiana area on Thursday, terrifying residents. Following the failure of the forest department in catching the big cat, army jawans were called in on Friday

Panic gripped the area this morning when the leopard entered the home of one Mohammad Shoaib where it attacked four people. Shoaib immediately alerted the Aashiana police after firing a few shots from his licenced revolver, injuring it in the process.

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Instead of alerting forest department officials, a police team headed by Inspector Triloki Singh rushed to the house and encountered the leopard.

On opening the kitchen door, the big cat attacked the police team, injuring Singh in the process. The encounter lasted 15 minutes, which eventually ended in the injured cop shooting the leopard. The leopard was then rushed to the Lucknow Zoo Hospital where it was declared dead.

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Unaware of the laws regarding killing of an protected species, the IG Lucknow Zone rewarded Singh and his team with Rs 50,000. Singh was also felicitated by the residents of the colony after he killed the leopard.

However, the leopard was not declared a man-eater by the forest department, and is in the list of protected species. Animal right activists are up in arms against the Lucknow Police for gunning down the leopard. Hunting and attacking leopard is prohibited under the IWPA.

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Wildlife experts saidd that loss of habitat often leads leopards to stray in human settlements but that did not mean that they would be shot by the Police. “How can police shoot down a leopard which is protected under the law? The job of the police is to deal with criminals and not with endangered animals,” fumed Yash Singh, a PFA activist.

This was the third incident of leopard entering Lucknow in the past few months. Earlier, the wild cat was spotted in a school in Old City. The leopard was, however, tranquilized and caught by a team of forest officers.

Meanwhile, after a controversy over the leopard killing, the DGP OP Singh has withdrawn Rs 50,000 cash reward announced for the Aashiana police team which had gunned down the leopard. The Forest department has ordered an inquiry into the killing of the leopard by the Lucknow Police.