Crowd in front of the shop in Bada Bazar locality of Sonepur where a leopard is reportedly trapped. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, July 4: An evening walk through a busy market checking the wares displayed in the shops are perfectly normal. Only if the walker does not happen to be a leopard who takes fancy for a shop selling fashion accessories for women.

Panic gripped the evening crowd in the Bada Bazar market of Sonepur town today as a leopard was seen strolling down its main street. As people ran helter and skelter, the animal, oblivious to the commotion around him, stepped into a store selling bangles and other fashion ware for women.

Khadi Meher, the owner of Chandni Fancy, the store that caught the wild cat’s fancy, said he was out of his shop when the leopard made his entry around 5.30pm.

When he saw the animal on his return, his first reaction was to bring the shutter down from outside leaving the beast trapped. Meher’s terrified neighbour, Ram Krushna also testified to having seen the animal. Local forest officials arrived at the spot soon after being informed but a large crowd having gathered around the shop by then they were hesitant about trying to capture the beast.

“We are not sure what kind of animal is it. We have been told it’s a leopard. In that case it must have come from the forests of Boudh district across the Tel river. We are trying to get in touch with Nandankanan zoo officials in Bhubaneswar,” said Sonepur forest ranger, Sushil Tripathy.

In Bhubaneswar, the principal chief conservator of forests and the state’s chief wildlife warden, J.D. Sharma said he was not sure whether the animal trapped in the Sonepur shop was a leopard or a hyena.

“From the description given by the local residents it appears to be a hyena but we cannot be sure. But it is a wild animal,” the officer said adding that local forest officials would try to capture it.

“The problem is the presence of so many people around. Unless they disperse our officials will find it hard to capture the animal,” said Sharma.