A wedding in Lucknow saw an uninvited guest, a leopard, who strayed into the venue, leaving a forest official injured, attendees in panic and the bride and groom stranded in a car for hours. The incident happened in the Buddheshwar road area of the state capital on Wednesday night when the leopard entered a banquet hall, creating panic among the guests who frantically started running to save their lives, an eyewitness recalls.
Even the bride and groom who were in the marriage hall ran off and locked themselves in a car, the eyewitness said. Police and the forest department officials immediately reached the spot. The leopard was caught and tranquillized after hours of efforts at around 2 am. According to police, forest department official Mukaddar Ali sustained injuries in his hand while catching the leopard.
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A guest said that until the animal was caught, the families of both the bride and groom sat in their vehicles for safety. In a video purportedly of the incident, the leopard can be seen snatching an official's weapon as he tries to overpower the animal.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP-led state government over the incident, saying that the incident is a result of “corruption” in the state government due to which “human encroachment in forests is increasing”.
In a post on X, he said, "The 'jumlajeevi' BJP government of UP was not yet able to find a solution to the problem of stray animals and now it is facing another challenge of the attack of a 'leopard' in the state capital."
"The news of a leopard entering a wedding ceremony in Lucknow is worrying. One form of corruption in the BJP government is that human encroachment in forests is increasing, in such a situation, violent wild animals are being forced to come out of forests to cities in search of food, due to which the lives of common people are in danger," he said. Will there be any action or will the state government cover up this incident by saying that “it was not a leopard but an 'oversized cat'” and hush up the matter, Yadav said.