Bhubaneswar, April 8: Security personnel and Biju Patnaik Airport authorities had a tough time today trying to catch a monkey that had sneaked into the airport runway.

The simian which led experts from Nandankanan zoo a merry dance was tranquilised after around six hours.

Sources at the airport said though the monkey was first sighted yesterday evening, the airport authorities thought that it would leave on its own. But as it appeared again today, the authorities sought the help of forest officials.

The officials tried to trap the monkey by giving bananas with sleeping pills, but it managed to overcome the dose.

"We finally somehow managed to get the monkey to eat five bananas, which had sleeping pills in them. But it did not affect the agility of the animal, which continued to jump on the roof grills," said a senior wildlife official of Khurda district.

The forest officials, along with airport authorities, were spotted chasing the monkey to ensure that no passenger gets hurt. "It was a funny incident with the monkey jumping all around and the officials chasing it. We were hoping that the simian would fall asleep after eating the bananas. However, it gave a tough fight," said an eyewitness.

The monkey was finally caught when it fell on a large net spread by the forest officials. Sources said that the animal was likely to be taken to Nandankanan zoo.

A number of stray animals have been captured from the airport in the past two years. In November 2012, a wild cat was found trapped in a cage, while in September 2013, a wild jackal was found in the operational areas. Again in June and July 2014, two jackals were trapped in a cage. The frequent movements of jackals in the operational areas had forced the airport authorities to clean up the bush and cover all the ditches.

"The authorities should have taken immediate action after they spotted the monkey in the terminal yesterday. We are fortunate that it did not hurt anybody," said a passenger.