A leopard, which had sneaked into a private school two days ago was trapped and evicted early on Sunday after a 20-hour operation by the forest department and police, an official here said.
The full-grown cat, estimated to be five-years-old, had sneaked into the N.E.S. School in Mulund, north-east Mumbai, from the adjoining Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) on Friday morning apparently hunting for prey.
It was spotted in the basement by an alert security guard, who immediately bolted the doors and summoned the school authorities, police and forest officials.
The officials arrived soon afterwards but failed to track the cat which lay hiding in the basement, presumably since Friday night, said a forest official.
In an attempt to lure and trap it, the forest officials blocked the basement entrance with a cage and kept a chicken inside it.