imread not working in opencv2.4.13 on centos6.5

Hello All I built opencv2.4.13 from source in RELEASE mode like so: >> I created a directory named 'build' inside the folder and from inside the 'build' ran cmake : cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/home/ssomesh/usr/local/opencv -D WITH_CUDA=ON .. This I followed with >>>> make; sudo make install When I run the sample code provided in the 'samples' folder by openCV, it is able to read and display images. However when I compile my program, the imread() function does not seem to work. Here's the code that is throwing error:

 #include "opencv2/core/core.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/highgui/highgui.hpp"
 using namespace cv;
 using namespace std;

int main( int argc, char** argv )
{
    if( argc != 2)
    {
     printf(" Usage: display_image ImageToLoadAndDisplay\n");
     return -1;
    }
       Mat image;
   image = imread(argv[1], CV_LOAD_IMAGE_UNCHANGED);  // Read the file

    if( image.empty() )                              // Check for invalid input
    {
        cout <<  "Could not open or find the image" << std::endl ;
        return -1;
    }

    namedWindow( "Display window", WINDOW_AUTOSIZE );// Create a window for display.
    imshow( "Display window", image );                   // Show our image inside it.

    waitKey(0);                                          // Wait for a keystroke in the window
    return 0;
}
 

I compile my code like this: 

>> g++ read-display-images.cpp -o read-display-images \`pkg-config opencv --cflags --libs\`

The code compiles fine. But every time I run it, it exits and displays
>>  Could not open or find the image 

The image is in the same folder as the source and the executable.

I want help in resolving the issue. Is there a problem with the configuration during the build, or else am I not setting some flags correctly?

Any help is greatly appreciated. 

Thanks.