A leopard has wandered into a school in southern India and injured three people as it tried to escape.

Onlookers including TV news crews watched the chase, which lasted several hours until forest workers shot the big cat with a tranquilliser dart on Sunday afternoon, according to Press Trust of India news agency.

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The agency quoted school officials as saying the leopard was first seen on closed-circuit TV before dawn inside the private Vibgyor School in Bangalore, and then disappeared into some surrounding bushes.

The big cat later scaled a wall to re-enter the school grounds.

It attacked and injured three people, including a veterinarian and a man who was trying to climb over a gate to get away, the agency reported.

Police said the three were being treated in a hospital.

Watch dramatic video of the attacks below (graphic content):