India, Sept. 26 -- LUCKNOW A visual purportedly showing a leopard stealthily moving across a street in the residential area of Ruchi Khand 3, which went viral on social media on Thursday, created panic among locals before authorities confirmed it to be a "digitally manipulated hoax using artificial intelligence (AI)".

The AI-generated image made rounds on WhatsApp groups and local social media pages, alarming residents and prompting fears of a wild animal on the loose in the locality.

Residents started watching their CCTV footage to check for the wild animal's presence in front of houses. While some didn't allow children to step out of the gate, others didn't send their kids to school following the "leopard rumour".

Reacting promptly t...