Prayagraj: For six months, the leopard had the village on edge, spreading fear and panic. But when it slipped into a house in Chibaiya village, the locals blocked its escape routes and called in the authorities. The police and forest department arrived pronto, capturing the big cat and ending the reign of terror. Panic gripped Chibaiya village for three hours on Thursday when a leopard was spotted near a pond, attacking two villagers. The villagers didn’t back down, chasing the animal from one corner to another till it entered a house. They trapped it and alerted the authorities. The leopard had been creating panic in Prayagraj’s Kotwa, Chibaiya, Bahadurpur and other villages for the past six months. Station officer (Jhunsi) Mahesh Mishra told TOI that a team of the forest department tranquilized the animal when it entered the house of one of the villagers. He added that police, along with officials of the forest department, also cordoned off the area.Villagers said the leopard’s game of hide-and-seek with them finally ended when it slipped into SK Singh’s house, a battery dealer’s shop in the village. The house was already occupied by women and kids, and panic set in. But the villagers acted fast, quickly shutting the door from outside, trapping the leopard inside.Some family members of house owner were also trapped inside the house. Terrified, they also locked themselves in a room. The villagers then managed to rescue everyone one by one through a window, bringing them to safety. For six months, the leopard had the Ganga kachar area on high alert, striking fear in villagers’ hearts and disrupting their sleep. It roamed freely across 4+ villages, including the Kachar area, evading capture despite the forest department’s best efforts. Cages were set up, but the leopard outsmarted them all. Its reign of terror left several villagers injured and many livestock dead.The leopard made its presence felt in August last year. It was first spotted in Kotwa, Bahadurpur. The leopard also injured a villager in Malkhanpur on Aug 10. It was again spotted near the Ratoura pond in Sudnipur. On Sep 3, villagers again complained about sightings of leopards near the Bhiteshwar temple in Sudnipur. On Sep 8, a leopard injured another villager in Jamunipur. Later, it was spotted in Dalapur and Jhunsi for several days.