Baripada, Odisha:
Three persons were injured after being attacked by a leopard which strayed from Similipal sanctuary area and sneaked into Udala town in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district today.
The leopard first attacked Hari Murmu (24), as he stepped out of house in Udala NAC area, leaving him critically injured, a forest official said.
When the word spread, hundreds of local people gathered outside a farm house where the leopard was hiding, the official said.
Despite forest and police personnel putting a cordon around the farm house, two men - Ranjan Bindhani (38) and Kusha Behera(35) - sneaked inside ignoring the warning and got injured as the leopard attacked them.
All the three injured were rushed to Udala sub-divisional hospital in critical condition.
Baripada DFO Sanjay Kumar Swain, who was camping at the spot, said "We are monitoring the situation."