Judges Run for Their Lives as Leopard Enters Courtroom in India

A leopard that probably strayed from a nearby forest entered court premises in India’s Gujarat on Friday taking everyone by surprise. The scores of persons present in the courtroom were scared stiff and ran for their lives. Some of them, however, managed to lock in the big cat, which was later rescued by forest officials.

New Delhi (Sputnik): A local court in Chotila, a small town in India's western state of Gujarat, had a surprise visitor on Friday. Proceedings were on in full swing when a leopard entered the courtroom, astounding everyone present there.

Leopard entered inside a Court in Gujarat's Chotila… pic.twitter.com/vdZYC99XVu

— Sindhu Singh (@SindhuIndus) December 14, 2018

Chotila is a famous pilgrimage center and is surrounded by forest, where leopards are found.

The leopard was reportedly caught by forest officials.

Leopard enters court premises in #Gujarat's Chotila, rescued pic.twitter.com/9adZ6VfxrQ

— TOI Ahmedabad (@TOIAhmedabad) December 14, 2018

Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has witnessed a number of incidences of man-animal conflict in the recent past. Only last month, a man-eater leopard was caged by forest officials after it reportedly devoured three women in the Dahod district. In the same month, a leopard entered the Gujarat Secretariat campus, disrupting the bureaucratic hub's functioning for almost half a day.