COIMBATORE: Fear gripped the workers of a private tea estate in Gudalur after they spotted a leopard in the plantation.

The labourers, who were busy at work in an estate in Kammathi area in Sri Madurai Panchayat near Gudalur, were shocked to see a leopard taking a stroll a little distance away on Thursday evening.

The panicked workers then fled away from the estate to safety. On receiving information, a team of forest department staff arrived and fired crackers to ensure that the leopard moves out of the estate. Also, four camera traps were fixed in different places to monitor its movements. The leopard could not be found in the vicinity thereafter.

Yet the forest department staff was deployed in the locality to help the workers overcome their fear.

“As crackers were fired, the leopard may have fled away from the spot. The residents were asked not to go alone particularly during night. People need not fear as surveillance has been enhanced,” said a forest department official.

Two persons including a three-year-old girl were mauled to death recently in separate incidents of leopard attacks in the hills.