Palghar: In a span of 24 hours, a leopard has reportedly injured 3 people, including a forest guard in Talasari taluka of Palghar district. According to a forest official, the leopard was in search of water as summer is at its peak. On Saturday, a woman, Gulab Vartha was injured while she was in her farm. In the second instance, a man, Rajya Chimda was attacked while he was working in his field. Both are out of danger and received treatment for their injuries at the Talasari sub district hospital. Following the attacks, forest officials jumped into action and attempted to trap the big cat and tranquillise it, however, the leopard escaped. While escaping, the leopard injured a forest officer who was admitted and discharged after basic treatment. “This is was not an attack but an encounter of the stray leopard with the human being”, said Niranjan Diwakar, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Dahanu. He added, “We have placed trap cameras and are on alert to tackle any situation.” Vishal Rajemahadik