Gudalur: In a startling discovery, a leopard was found trapped inside an uninhabited house at Chemundi here on Saturday. 

The house, formerly owned by the late Paliyam Papachan, had been unoccupied for some time. Papachan's wife, Annamma, aged 68, who had been residing in a nearby orphanage, recently decided to renovate the house. 

She enlisted the help of some workers to perform cleaning tasks. It was these workers who initially heard the growls of the leopard and subsequently found the animal trapped in one of the rooms.

Upon confirmation by the locals, who observed the leopard through the windows of the house, the forest department was promptly notified. A crowd quickly assembled to catch a glimpse of the trapped leopard.