Leopard image creates panic at RGIA

Hyderabad: A zoomed photograph of a jungle cat made a visitor think that it was a leopard and a major scare was created in the office premises of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday.

Airport officials operate from an office a kilometre away from the airport terminal. The visitor took a picture of a jungle cat in zoom mode. The animal was mistaken for a leopard and there was panic that the big cat was around.

Forest and zoo officials rushed to the spot and started checking along the road from the office to the airport. Cab drivers and other regulars started discussing the presence of the leopard on the premises. The Central Industrial Secu-rity Force finally moved in armed with tranquilisers and nets and that made people even more curious. A massive search of the grounds was carried out even as the picture of the ‘leopard’ went viral on social media. By evening it was concluded that there was no leopard around, maybe just a jungle cat.

N Sadanand, chief conservator of forests at Ranga Reddy, said a jungle cat is large in size and has spots on its body. They don’t harm humans. Airport officials said the videos could be the work of some miscreant, but they had to take precautionary measures.