Greater Noida, Oct 16 (IANS): The search for a leopard that was spotted in the NTPC plant area in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida a week ago, continued on Friday as forest officials failed to trace its whereabouts.

An image of the leopard was captured on October 7 by the cameras installed on the premises.

As word spread, panic took hold of area residents. Since then, several searches have been conducted but with no success.

"As of now, there is no trace anywhere of the big cat -- no pug mark, no excreta -- and at the same time there is no movement from the leopard which could tell us that it is in the NTPC plant area," District Forest Officer (DFO) Pramod Kumar Srivastava told IANS.

"As a precaution, we have installed a cage and web cameras. However, it can also be assumed that the leopard has gone away -- covering long distance from here.

"We have asked our officials and the NTPC staff to be vigilant and we are fully prepared and alert for any eventuality," said the DFO.

The leopard was spotted by the CISF personnel on duty in an area of the NTPC last week. After this, the cameras were checked, and a picture of the leopard walking in the area was found.

On receiving the information, the Forest Department team reached the spot and examined the leopard's claw marks, after which the cage was installed. Simultaneously, a search operation was launched.

After the leopard scare, a python was also found at the NTPC plant. The forest department rescued and released it in the forest.