Lucknow:
A Lucknow wedding had a rather unusual and uninvited guest who caused panic among other guests. A leopard gatecrashed the wedding of Akshay Srivastava and Jyoti Kumari, prompting guests to run for their lives. The incident occurred Wednesday night at the city’s MM Lawn located on Buddeshwar Ring Road in Para. The big cat was spotted late last night, at 11 pm.
The wedding venue, filled with love, joy and music, had fear written all over it as the big cat was spotted on the marriage lawn. Guests ran out on the road, fearing a leopard attack. One of the guests jumped off the first floor of the venue and suffered injuries.
The bride and groom ran off and locked themselves in a car, the eyewitness said, as reported by news agency PTI.
Forest department officials and Police reached the venue upon receiving the information and then began a nearly five-hour-long rescue operation.
Officials found the leopard on the first floor, hiding in one of the rooms. As forest department official Muqaddar Ali approached, the animal leaped and attacked Mr Ali with his paw. The visuals show the forest officer’s left hand covered in blood.
The rescue operation went on till 3:30 in the morning after which the big cat was caught.
Two camerapersons also suffered injuries after they were knocked down by the guests, as per the media reports.
Wedding rituals resumed after the rescue operation was completed.