Shamli (Uttar Pradesh) Jul 27 (IANS): Half-eaten animal carcasses, apparently preyed upon by a leopard from the forest area, have triggered panic among villagers in Shamli district.

The forest department has issued a high alert in Shamli and adjoining districts of Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat.

Forest department officials have asked the local residents to remain calm and avoid going out of their houses till the leopard is caught.

Officials have asked the local people not to allow children to venture out alone.

Meanwhile, residents of villages in Kandhla block of Shamli district claimed that they had spotted a leopard in the fields on Monday night.

People in other nearby villages, including Bhaneda and Bhabhisa have stopped going to fields after sighting of the leopard and the labourers, too, have stopped working.

"We are trying to spot the leopard and capture him so that he can be taken either to a zoo or released deeper into the forest," said a senior forest official.