Pandemonium as leopard wanders into Indian courtroom and attacks three people

India has a considerable leopard population with more than 12,800 of the wild felines

A leopard attacked people inside a court complex in India.

A leopard strayed into a court complex on the outskirts of India’s capital and wounded at least five people, police said.

The wild cat was seen inside the compound at the Ghaziabad court, near New Delhi, late on Wednesday, causing panic.

Videos showed policemen wearing body armour and using flame torches, while trying to trap the leopard with nets.

Wildlife rangers with tranquiliser guns teamed up with police as the court complex was closed to the public.

Footage on TV showed several lawyers locking themselves up inside rooms at the courthouse as the beast roamed.

A policeman and lawyer were attacked by the wild cat when they tried to chase it away.

In another clip, the animal is seen behind a metal barrier inside the courtroom.

Leopard attacks are common in Gurgaon, south of the national capital, but rare in Ghaziabad, a city of 2.2 million people about 45km to the east.

India has a sizeable leopard population with more than 12,800 of the wild predators, according to a report released by the government in 2021.

There is a higher population of leopards in the mountainous states because of dense forest, but lately wild cats have been venturing on to the plains and into human habitats in search for food.

A 22-year-old woman died after a leopard attacked her in sugarcane fields in Pune in western Maharashtra state last week.

A labourer was mauled to death by a suspected “man-eater” leopard in Chhattisgarh last month.

At least five people were killed in leopard attacks in neighbouring Jharkhand state between December last year and January this year.