Islamabad police register case after 'pet' leopard runs amok in residential area

Islamabad, Feb 17 The Islamabad Police on Friday opened a criminal investigation against an unknown person for "domesticating" a leopard, a day after it ran free and injured several people in an upscale residential area of the capital, the media reported.

On Thursday, video clips of the feline jumping across walls and navigating roads in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase II neighbourhood of Islamabad went viral on social media, leading to an hours long effort by authorities to capture it, Dawn reported.

Today, the Islamabad Police tweeted that its Sahala Police Station, under whose jurisdiction DHA Phase II falls under, booked an unidentified suspect under sections 324 (attempt to commit murder) and 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The leopard was a pet in an unknown person's home, the police alleged. "The suspect endangered the lives of citizens by keeping dangerous animals," it said in a second tweet, Dawn reported.

"The search for the accused is ongoing, legal action will be taken after arresting him soon."

Pakistan Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman tweeted a video of the big cat sitting on the ground, saying this "leopard who escaped from a private zoo last night in Islamabad is alive and well at our Animal Rescue centre at the old zoo".