Bhubaneswar, April 17: Three persons, including a forest ranger, were injured when a leopard attacked them at Kuruli village near Kantabanji in Balangir district, about 500km from here.

The leopard entered a cowshed at Kuruli this morning and was captured in the evening bringing to an end of a 12-hour-long operation.

The adult leopard, which is believed to have ventured out of the nearest forest, was first spotted at the cowshed. "On spotting the animal in our cowshed, I started running. But, it pounced on me and attacked me. I suffered injuries on my back and hand," said Milan Rana, 16, son of the house owner.

Panic gripped the village after the incident and the villagers shortly deserted their houses. They called the forest officials and police to rescue the animal. Later, a team of forest officials from the Kantabanji range reached the village and tried to capture the animal by placing a cage. But, it somehow managed to climb the rooftop of the house and escaped. "I was on the rooftop during the operation when it attacked me. To protect myself, I jumped off the roof. I hurt my palm and eye," said ranger Bijay Kumar Khuntia.

The leopard kept on running on the village roads and even attacked a few domestic animals. Later, other forest officials, including a tranqualising team, reached the spot. But, they were also left helpless with the leopard playing a hide-and-seek with them.

"All the villagers have been out of their houses since morning when the animal was first spotted. We have never come across any leopard venturing into our village in recent past," said a villager.

Later, the forest officials captured it in the cage. "We are trying to trace its original habitat. We are yet o decide whether to release it in the forest or to take it to Nandankanan zoo," said an official.