Three people were injured in a border village in Lalmonirhat on Sunday afternoon when a large wild cat crossed from India and attacked them in a paddy field, setting off a search by border guards and forest officials that was still under way on Monday morning.

The attack happened at Amjhol, a village in Gotamari union of Hatibandha upazila, close to international boundary pillar 905, shortly after 4pm. Sharifa Begum had gone to bring back a goat that was grazing beside a paddy field near her home. According to local accounts, she found the animal attacking the goat and was attacked herself when she tried to save it.

Sharifa, who is being treated in hospital, told The Daily Star: "The leopard was preparing to take away my goat. At that moment, it attacked me." Her family told Prothom Alo that she had described seeing a tiger eating the goat in the paddy field before she screamed.

Two farmers, Afsar Hossain and Nazrul Islam, were working nearby. They heard her screams and ran to help, but the animal turned on them as well before slipping into the paddy field, according to Border Guard Bangladesh and residents. Villagers rescued all three and took them to Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex.

Two of the injured, Sharifa and Afsar, were referred to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment. Bulbul Ahmed, a doctor on duty in the hospital's isolation ward, told Prothom Alo that the two arrived at about 8pm. The woman's condition was somewhat worse, with wounds on her head and hands, while the man had injuries on his back.

"Yes, there is of course a risk, since it is an animal bite," the doctor said. "Treatment is continuing. We are giving all treatment according to our protocol."

In a message to journalists on Sunday evening, BGB said the animal entered Bangladesh from Indian territory at 4pm at Amjhol, under the Bonchouki border outpost, and injured three civilians. It said the Forest Department had been contacted through the district administration, and that the commander of the 15 BGB Battalion and a patrol were at the scene.

Lieutenant Colonel Mehedi Imam, commander of the Lalmonirhat 15 BGB Battalion, confirmed the attack and said additional personnel had been deployed. People at the site were told to stay cautious and not to approach the animal alone, he said.

The identity of the animal is not settled, and that matters for how the capture is handled. BGB's statement described it as a tiger. The Daily Star reported that villagers and border officials suspected a leopard, and quoted the BGB commander as saying a leopard was still in the paddy field. The Forest Department has not publicly confirmed the species.

The border at Amjhol faces Sitai thana in India's Cooch Behar district, West Bengal. Prothom Alo reported that there is no forest or jungle on either side of that stretch, which is flat farmland. Officials suspect the animal came from a forest across the border, but how it crossed open agricultural land has not been explained.

As news spread, a large crowd of villagers surrounded the field with sticks, spears and torches to stop the animal from escaping, according to The Daily Star. Monabberul Haque Mona, chairman of the Gotamari union parishad, said forest officials were on their way with equipment.

Lalmonirhat Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Rashedul Haque Pradhan told Prothom Alo that his office had asked the Forest Department to send a team with the equipment needed to bring the situation under control, and that the administration was monitoring developments.

Local broadcaster DBC News reported after midnight that a BGB drone had located the animal in a wooded area close to the border, and that the Forest Department was working to capture it. There was no official confirmation by Monday morning that the animal had been caught or moved away from the village.

The incident highlights the risk to people living along Bangladesh's northern border, where homes and farmland sit close to the boundary and wild animals occasionally move across from forests in India. In this case the animal came into a populated village in daylight, and the first people to meet it were a woman fetching livestock and two farmers working in the fields.

Several questions remain. Officials have not said what species the animal is, where exactly it is now, or how they plan to capture it without further injury. The condition of the injured, particularly Sharifa, is also not clear beyond the doctor's warning that animal bites carry risk.

What happens next depends on the Forest Department's capture operation. Residents of Amjhol and nearby border villages have been advised to stay alert and to avoid going into the fields alone. ScrollBeat will update this report when officials confirm the animal's capture or identity.