In a spine-chilling incident, a 20-year-old youth was mauled to death by a white tiger in its enclosure in Delhi Zoo on Tuesday around 1 pm. The victim, Maqsood, who was trying to capture the seven-year-old big cat on his camera, accidentally fell into the enclosure.
Initially, the tiger was clueless finding the youth in its enclosure and both of them stood face to face for about 10 minutes. However, all hell broke loose after a few onlookers threw stones at the tiger to distract him. Instead, it angered the tiger that pounced upon Maqsood, grabbed him by his neck and dragged him for some distance before killing him. What followed next was some crude attempt by the zoo authorities. Badly trained security guards and officials were at their wits’ end. The body of Maqsood was lying in the enclosure for hours before it was removed around 4 pm.
Some eyewitnesses claimed that the security guards at the zoo could do nothing to help the youth when he was being dragged away by the tiger as they did not have tranquiliser guns. The horrific incident, which was filmed by an eyewitness, showed the tiger holding the youth by his neck and then killing him.
The incident exposed the shoddy emergency measures at National Zoological Park. The zoo authorities were bereft of ideas and they were seen running around like a headless chicken. There was no cracker or water canon to distract the tiger. The ill-equipped security guards hit the iron fencing with sticks in order to distract the tiger.
There were various accounts of how Maqsood, a resident of Anand Parbat area with a history of mental illness, fell into the tiger’s enclosure. Some eyewitnesses claimed that he was leaning against the wall of the enclosure when he slipped into it.
However, zoo officials and some other eyewitnesses said he crossed the iron fence preceding a brick wall and jumped into the enclosure.
According to the police, Maqsood jumped inside the enclosure by crossing the stand-off barrier, which is built between the tiger enclosure and the visitor side. He landed inside the 18-feet dry moat area. For around ten minutes, the tiger did not do anything to him. The onlookers started throwing sticks and stones at the big cat to distract it from Maqsood. One of the visitors, Himanshu who made a PCR call, said that there was no security personnel who could help or save Maqsood. It was only after the PCR arrived that security officers and zoo authorities could be seen.
“I heard people shouting and rushed to the spot. The tiger had grabbed him by the neck and was just moving around. It later mauled him and he died on the spot,” said Himanshu.
A video made by one of the visitors shows that at first the tiger was clueless and sat motionless staring at Maqsood. Maqsood, on the other hand, pleaded for mercy with folded hands. The tiger became violent after some onlookers threw a stone at it and guards started hitting the fence.
The tiger killed him and moved inside his enclosure but didn’t eat his body. Maqsood’s family members told the police that he used to consume some tablets for mental illness around two years back. He also consumed cannabis and was addicted to it. Police officials also claimed that he was intoxicated during the time of the incident as well.
While the zoo authorities claimed that the message on wireless sets was flashed and Praveen, the guard deployed there had alerted the staff members, the visitors claimed that the response by the zoo authorities was pathetic. “There was enough time for the zoo authorities to save him but the unequipped security guards were shooing the public off and not helping him,” said Captain Shardha, another visitor.
Zoo authorities claimed that Maqsood was warned around three times for crossing the fence but he did not pay heed. “The enclosures of the National zoological park have been designed as per the standards laid down by the Central Zoo authorities. All the enclosures of the zoo are absolutely safe. No visitor can reach the moat wall of the enclosure without crossing the stand off-barrier. Maqsood crossed the stand off barrier and jumped into his enclosure leading to his death,” said Amitabh Agnihotri, Director Zoo.
“A case of negligence has been registered at Nizmauddin police station. The body has been sent for post-mortem,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (South-Eastern Range) Sanjay Beniwal.