Five people attempted to catch a fawn (the young of a deer) after scaling the boundary wall of Lucknow zoo, following which one person was arrested. An FIR was lodged with Hazratganj police station under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA).
The incident took place on Wednesday. Four labourers entered the zoo campus by cutting a branch of an Indian Fig (Gular) tree just outside the zoo boundary.
“They (labourers) placed the tree branch on the fence of the boundary wall and entered the deer enclosure. That was when our staff spotted them,” said Aditi Sharma, zoo director.
The zoo staff ran after the four but they managed to escape. Another person, Rajesh Mishra, standing on the boundary, was caught by the staff. The FIR was lodged by zoo staff Rohit Kumar against Rajesh Mishra and four others under section 2(16), 9, 38(J), 50 and 51 of the WIldlife Protection Act with the Hazratganj police.
Hazratganj SHO Vikram Singh said Rajesh Mishra is caretaker of a restaurant and lives in a locality near the zoo.
“The accused tried to catch animals which is an offence. It was a planned attempt to enter, nab and steal animals from inside the zoo campus,” said Sharma.
{{/usCountry}}“The accused tried to catch animals which is an offence. It was a planned attempt to enter, nab and steal animals from inside the zoo campus,” said Sharma.
{{/usCountry}}The incident has raised security concerns in the zoo campus and officials said they shall review the same.