Leopard ‘spotted’ near Greater Noida high-rise, cops say false alarm

Teams from the forest and police departments reached Ajnara Le Garden in Greater Noida west but after a 6hour-long search, did not find any trace of the animal’s presence in the area, officials said

A security guard at the Ajnara Le Garden high-rise in Greater Noida west spotted a leopard near the housing society on Tuesday morning, the Gautam Budh Nagar Forest department was told.

The leopard was reportedly spotted by a security guard employed at Ajnara Le Garden, at some under construction buildings near the high-rise housing society. (HT Archive)

Teams from the forest and police departments reached the spot but after a 6hour-long search, did not find any trace of the animal’s presence in the area, officials said.

District forest officer (DFO) PK Srivastava said, “We were told at 10.15am that a security guard spotted a leopard at some under construction buildings near the high-rise. But after an extensive search over six hours, no trace of the animal was found and the search was called off.” He added that in the past four years, there have been no such animal sightings in the area.

Station house officer of Bisrakh police station, Anil Kumar, said a resident informed the police about the leopard sighting at 6am on Tuesday.

“A resident of Le Garden society had informed us on Dial112 that a leopard was spotted near the high-rise residential area. But it seems that the call was a false alarm,” said Kumar.

Residents of the housing society were asked to exercise caution. “A message was circulated in the society group around 10 am about a possible leopard sighting and to exercise caution when stepping out,” said Mukesh Gupta, a resident of Ajnara Le Garden society.