Panic as leopard checks into airport, campuses

BHOPAL: If you are taking off from Bhopal airport or landing here, keep your eyes peeled for the leopard that has kept 50 foresters on their toes since Friday afternoon.
The leopard seems to be shuttling between the airport, IISER and School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) — a distance of about 11-15km. It was captured on CCTV at SPA and students have been warned not to step out of hostel after dark.
The spotted feline was first seen by a few airport staff at 4pm on Friday. They raised the alarm but were reportedly laughed off — some colleagues reportedly ribbed them for mistaking a large dog for a tendua. Five hours later, a passenger said he spotted a leopard in the parking area. There was instant panic. Forest officials combed the area all night, but found nothing. But they were still wary, well aware that a Bengal tiger had entered a government campus close to the airport a few years ago.
Airport director Anil Vikram said the staff informed him about a leopard. “As such, nothing has been found. Forest department officials are doing their work. We had informed the forest department,” said Vikram.
Forest officials said they came to know about the leopard through media.
“We were not informed about it. We came to know about it from journalists after we took quick action and sent a team on Friday night,” said a forest warden. Around 50 forest department officials looked all day in the airport compound and nearby IISER, but again drew a blank.
Campuses on alert
A full-fledged team reached IISER on Saturday. We could not find anything there, either,” said Hasan. Then, they got information that the leopard had been spotted at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA). Another frenetic search ensued. And again a blank.
On Saturday, they got CCTV footage of the airport and campuses. “We had asked the director to provide CCTV footage of the past couple of days. Finally, we spotted the leopard in CCTV footage of November 15 (Thursday) on the SPA campus. Thereafter, we increased the surveillance and deployed four vehicles and around 50 employees to track it,” said Hasan. “As the leopard is clearly visible on SPA campus footage, we have to be alert. We will keep a close watch on it for a couple of days,” Hasan said. The forest department has asked officials in SPA, IISER and airport to inform them immediately if they spot the leopard. TNN