As dusk falls, residents of Kalanjoor, a forest-fringe settlement in Pathanamthitta, are retreating indoors and securing their cattle in safe shelters. For the past several days, the region has been living under the shadow of fear following repeated sightings of a straying leopard that has entered human habitations in recent weeks.

Mysore/Mysuru: Residents of Siddarthanagar had alerted Forest officials about a suspected leopard sighting as early as 6 am yesterday. A rapid response team was deployed and combed the area, but found no pugmarks or supporting CCTV evidence. Officials initially suspected that the animal may have been mistaken for a civet cat and called off the...