The appearance of a sloth bear in a residential area of Gondia city in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region triggered panic among locals, prompting the Forest Department to launch a rescue operation. However, its personnel could not capture the animal.

According to the PTI, a forest guard was injured during the rescue attempt and was hospitalised, officials said. While briefing about the incident, they further asserted that the sloth bear was first spotted in the Ganeshnagar locality on Thursday night and in the adjoining Govindpur area on Friday morning. During the rescue efforts, the animal ran away and disappeared into the adjoining fields behind the Collector Office.