NALGONDA: In a sensational turnaround of fortunes, Telangana forest department personnel who were supposed to capture a leopard almost ended up as its prey in Nalgonda district on Thursday. The wild beast which was tranquilized before it was supposed to have been shifted, suddenly retaliated and attacked a few personnel, causing panic. The incident which was captured on camera and whose video is going viral, happened at Rajapet Thanda of Marriguda mandal in Nalgonda district.

The leopard which appeared to have strayed into the human habitat seemingly in search of food got itself entangled in a boundary fencing of a farm land near Raja Thanda. Villagers who heard the leopard’s cries noticed it and alerted the forest officials. Soon, the forest department team arrived at the scene and began preparations for safely rescuing the wild cat.

As part of it, they fired a tranquilizer shot at the leopard following which the wild animal appeared to have fallen asleep. But as the forest department personnel wrapped it in a huge net and tried to dump it into a waiting van, the leopard took all of them by surprise and escaped from the net. Soon, out of fear, it began chasing and attacking the forest guards, even as they ran helter-skelter fearing for their lives.

After a few minutes of chaos where the leopard attacked everyone in sight, the wild cat finally gave in as the tranquiliser began showing its full effect. It went under the forest guards’ vehicle and fell unconscious. Heaving a big sigh of relief, the authorities quickly shifted it back into the wilderness. At least two forest guards sustained injuries in the leopard attack on this occasion.