Relief after dog’s recovery at Patna airport before PM Modi’s visit

The dog had sneaked out of its cage after the SpiceJet reportedly mishandled the consignment while loading it on its aircraft to Mumbai on October 4.

An agouti Husky, a wolf-like dog, which had strayed on the tarmac of Patna airport while being transported to Mumbai on October 4, was tranquilised and captured on Tuesday, four days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Patna on Saturday.

A dog, which went missing, at Patna airport while being transported to Mumbai on October 4, was tranquilised and captured on Tuesday. (HT photo)

The dog’s recovery came as a huge relief to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the CISF, which were under pressure to capture it ahead of the PM’s visit. The authorities believed that the dog running astray on the airport operational area could pose a risk to the PM’s aircraft, besides 36 other scheduled flights, which operate from here in a day.

The advance security liaison team of the special protection group (SPG), tasked with the PM’s security, had also met the AAI officials on Tuesday. A day earlier, the AAI had sought help of the local zoo authorities after it failed to catch the dog.

Director, of the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Kanwaljeet Singh told HT, “We sent our experts, after the AAI informed us on Monday. Our team was able to tranquilise and capture the dog on Tuesday. The dog is dehydrated. We have kept it under observation. We have also informed the consignee, who will come from Mumbai shortly and take custody of the dog.”

Airport director Rajender Singh Lahauria said, “It is good that the dog has been captured. A stray dog in the operational area poses risk to flights.”

The Jay Prakash Narayan International airport at Patna has an average daily passenger footfall of around 4,000. It recorded 34% revenue growth in traffic in 2016-17.