Even as around 8,000 guests attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Council of Ministers, there was an unexpected guest seen in the background of the Forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan: a mysterious animal.
As Durgadas Uikey of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was signing the documents after taking oath as the Minister of State (MoS), an animal could be seen walking in the background above the stairs.
In the original feed of the Doordarshan, the animal could be seen walking at 3 hours 26 minutes-mark just after Durgadas gets up after signing the documents. The sighting of the animal has led to speculations whether it was a dog, cat, or a leopard.
Notably, the Rashtrapati Bhavan is among the most secure locations in India. On the day of the swearing-in, not just President Droupadi Murmu but also PM Modi, the entire Council of Ministers, and leaders of South Asian and Indian Ocean Region countries were also present. The venue was under multi-tier security arrangements. Amid such high security, the carefree prowling by an unknown animal —a leopard as some have guessed— has come as a surprise.
The Delhi Police has said that it was a common house cat and not a leopard.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Delhi Police said the lights at the venue made the cat’s shadow appear larger than usual.
Previously, sources had told CNN-News 18 that CCTV cameras in the vicinity had identified that the animal seen was indeed a cat.
Separately, The Times of India has quoted an official as saying that the animal does not appear to be a leopard.
“The animal in the video is not a leopard. The animal looks like a dog or cat,” said the official.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan is a huge compound and has several wooded areas. There is a 75-acre nature trail that has up to 136 plant species and 84 animal species, such as frogs, lizards, and snakes, as per the paper. The leopard, a wild predator, is, however, not one of them.
Even as speculation is rife on social media about the animal, there has not been any official comment on it so far.
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