After spending more than two weeks stranded on a metro pillar and prompting even a brief suspension of metro services, a young orange cat was brought to safety in Kerala’s Ernakulam .
The exhausted feline, fondly named ‘Subhash’ after a character from the hit Malayalam film Manjummel Boys, was rescued around 1.30 am on Sunday, February 22, through the joint efforts of Gandhi Nagar Fire Station, animal lovers and the Kochi Metro Rail Limited after a painstaking six-hour operation. It was immediately taken into their care.
The cat had reportedly been stuck for nearly 15 days on a pillar near the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, surviving without food and growing visibly weak.
Rescue attempts had begun on Saturday morning, but locating the frightened animal inside the structure proved difficult. The operation was further delayed when the lift being used malfunctioned, forcing the team to arrange another.
Power supply to the metro line was switched off, halting train services for 17 minutes. The effort was paused at 5.15 pm and resumed at 11.30 pm after services ended for the day, ensuring the rescue could continue safely.
As news of the rescue spread, a large crowd gathered throughout the day, anxiously watching the efforts.
When the animal was finally rescued, the public broke into cheers and applause, celebrating the moment with relief and emotion. Many later shared the videos online, calling it a “real Kerala story.”
