A leopard that entered the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar was rescued after a 36-hour joint operation by the forest department and Gurugram Police on Friday. The animal’s presence inside the engine department of the facility led to operations being suspended and an immediate evacuation of thousands of workers from the plant.

The plant is located on the foothills of the Aravalli forest.

The eight-year-old male leopard is healthy and has no signs of depression, wildlife officials said. “Around 100 police personnel, including Haryana Police commandos, along with two teams of the forest department carried out the rescue operation,” Gurugram Police Public Relations Officer Ravinder Kumar said.

Wildlife Conservator Vinod Kumar said the animal will be released in the Aravalli forest. Personnel used goats as live bait to get the leopard to enter a cage. “The entire area was cordoned off to restrict the movement of human beings,” said R Anand, Gurugram divisional forest officer told the Hindustan Times. A tranquiliser was used to capture the animal.

Operations have resumed at the plant.