Hunt on for �wild cat\'

KOCHI: Panic gripped Manjummal, near here, on Saturday after a headless goat carcass was spotted near the Subramaniam Swamy temple around 8.30 a.m.

Rumour spread that a leopard had killed the goat. A pugmark-like formation on the ground added to the speculation. Soon, a police team from the Eloor station reached the spot. Shortly thereafter, a hunt was launched by the police and the people in the locality for the wild cat.

By this time, an Assistant Conservator from the Social Forestry department had also reached the spot. After inspecting the injury on the carcass and the marks on the ground, he could not be sure about a leopards involvement.

The search continued till afternoon. The Forest department was about to set up a cage at the spot where the carcass was found to trap the leopard, if any, late in the evening, the police said.