Leopard Spotted Near Bhubaneswar Airport Again

Bhubaneswar: A day after a leopard was seen entering a commercial establishment premises at Palaspalli near the airport here in a CCTV footage, the big cat was again spotted by a security guard of ATS Tower in the area in the early hours of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a team of Forest Department and CISF has launched an operation to capture the wild animal. Four range officers and City DFO Ashok Mishra have been engaged in the operation.

A tranquillizer team from Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) has also been deployed in the area and the road to old airport sealed for the safety of the people, who have also been asked not to enter the specific zone.

Notably, the security personnel spotted the leopard near the tower around 4:40 am and later the leopard jumped off the wall towards the city.

There was panic in Bhubaneswar on Monday after a leopard was spotted at Palaspalli here the previous night night. While the leopard’s movements were captured on CCTV cameras, a local, Bankanidhi Senapati, had claimed to have seen the leopard.

To capture the straying big cat, a 25-member special team of the Forest Department led by the ranger and another team of Forest staff from Chandaka Wildlife Division had arrived in Palaspalli on Monday afternoon.

“We have asked the locals not to panic and stay indoors. It is most likely that the leopard strayed into the human habitation from Chandaka Sanctuary. We are trying to locate the leopard. Once it is found, we will tranquillize it and shift it to a safer place. We are hopeful of catching the leopard at the earliest,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Chandaka Wildlife Division Kedarnath Swain had told the media here on Monday.