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.  Yesterday, 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.

On Friday 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. “The search for the accused is ongoing, legal action will be taken after arresting him soon.”

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”. She added: “Its six-hour capture operation injured one of our Wildlife staff quite badly. Costs to the community and the animal could have been much higher. STOP private zoos.”

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP