Caught on camera: Leopard takes a tour of police station, cop’s calm reaction earns praise

A CCTV camera captured a leopard's leisurely stroll through a police station in Tamil Nadu, triggering a brief moment of panic among on-duty policemen. In a video shared on social media by IAS officer Supriya Sahu, the big cat is spotted on a CCTV camera installed inside the Naduvattam Police Station in Nilgiris.

The chilling video begins with the leopard wandering into different rooms of the building, seemingly inspecting each of them closely before making its way out of the station.

After the leopard exits the first room, a policeman appears behind him, carefully tiptoeing and peeking to see if the animal is still around. Scared, he stands behind the room's door and peers outside to spot the leopard. He then walks out to discover that the animal has left. He rushes back inside and tries to close the door. In his panic, he tries to bolt the door several times before successfully locking it.

Take a look at the video here:

IAS officer Sahu, who works as the Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests for the Tamil Nadu government, praised the officer for his calm reaction and even joked about the purpose of the big cat's visit to the police.

“A leopard decided to inspect the Naduvattam Police Station in Nilgiris. Hats off to the police person on duty who calmly closed the door and called forest officials. No one was hurt. Leopard went back safely to the forest,” she said.

Social media reacts

The video quickly gained thousands of views with users praising the policeman and also joining in on the jokes with Sahu. “Must admire the policeman's composure, as he made a few casual attempts to lock the door, as if a cat is wandering around,” said one of them.

Another remarked, “The police personnel was so calm and collected. That’s why thankfully that went well.”

A third user joked about the leopard being turned away: “How unfair to not take the complaint of the poor animal and closing the door on it? How many such humans more graceful than him must have visited your station?” they said.

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