Jaipur, Dec 13 (IANS): After a frantic search of around 21 hours, the forest department finally caught the panther on Friday from the Lal Kothi area in Rajasthan's Jaipur, where it was tranquillised and put in a cage.

Earlier in the morning, the panther was seen near the SMS stadium and later in the Lal Kothi area. Here, it injured Gaurav Rathi, a forest employee during the search operation. The employee was rushed to hospital.

On Friday, holidays were declared in two schools of Jaipur, namely SMS and Subodh Public school, as panther was seen in their premises too.

The joint teams of forest officials and police department traced the panther ever since it was seen near the Takhteshahi road on Thursday.

On Thursday night, police had warned the residents to keep their houses and windows shut in the night and inform police control room or the nearest police station in case leopard was sighted in the area.

According to District Forest Officer, Sudharshan Sharma: "The panther perhaps entered the city from Jhalana forest area and moved to the university and then to the Modi Doongri Hilly terrain."

Officials concerned said that it might have entered the city on the Wednesday night.