Hyderabad: A leopard was spotted in Ibrahim Bagh military area in Hyderabad on Monday, police said. The big cat was seen crossing the road in the military area under the Golconda Police Station limits.

The movement was recorded on a CCTV camera around 3.30 a.m., and the police alerted forest officials. The leopard is believed to have gone towards the Musi River behind Taramati Baradari, a historic monument, in the Ibrahim Bagh area.

Authorities have advised people in surrounding areas to be on alert. There are several residential localities and gated communities in the area.

Officials believe that it was the same leopard sighted in Manchirevula village inside the sprawling campus of Greyhounds on July 21. Police personnel who spotted the big cat alerted the Forest Department.

The same leopard was also believed to have been sighted in Narsingi, sending panic among residents.

The Forest officials have installed trap cameras and cages at different locations in Greyhounds campus, but the leopard apparently left the area without getting trapped and was now moving in the adjoining area.

At least four incidents of leopard sightings have been reported in the city fringes during July.

Early this month, two leopard sightings were reported inside the Research Centre Imarat facility of the Defence Research & Development Organisation in Raviryal. Though the Forest officials initiated immediate steps to confirm the presence of leopards, they did not find any trace. The camera traps have also not captured any images.

Later, another leopard sighting was reported in Chilukur, near Himayatsagar reservoir. Forest officials had confirmed the presence of a big cat, and the same leopard is believed to have crossed over to the Greyhounds campus and later ventured into the Ibrahim Bagh area.

In May last year, the Forest Department had captured a leopard which had appeared in the premises of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad on the city outskirts.

(IANS)