Air passengers, watch out!

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The international airport here had a special guest on Sunday noon in the form of a monkey. The airport terminal witnessed some curious scenes when the animal was spotted on the ceiling of the high-security area, where the passengers wait after check-in. ‘’The monkey was a gentle animal,’’ said Airport Director G Chandramouli. ‘’It didn’t attack anyone and sat gently on the ceiling curiously watching the happenings below,’’ he said. However, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) staff soon started all-out efforts to remove the ‘unchartered’ guest who had breached the security code. The first effort was to move the animal out of the building by shouting and waving hands. The cool guest, who was in no mood to climb down, didn’t respond.  A veterinary doctor was soon called in and when the new strategy too failed, the authorities informed the Forest Department officials. It was then that the doctor mooted the idea that the animal should be given a sedative. A sedative pill was placed inside a plantain and  thrown to the monkey. This time, the guest responded. It grabbed the fruit and gobbled it down in full sight of the cheering crowd. What happened later was, however, unexpected. It jumped and moved to the other side of the ceiling and disappeared. The AAI staff and Forest Department then launched a mass search, but couldn’t spot the animal till evening.  The AAI staff said the monkey seemed to be a domesticated one. ‘’It might have entered the building through an opening on the wall made for cleaning the glasses,’’ Chandramouli said. However, the authorities ordered that the hole should be closed immediately to stop such unwanted guests in future.