JOIN USAt least 50 people claimed to have seen 20-year-old Maqsood being killed by a white tiger in the Delhi zoo on Tuesday, but the Delhi Police have failed to find a single ‘public witness’.
A case of causing death by negligence was filed, but the FIR does not confirm the sequence of events and states that there were no eyewitnesses on the spot.Maqsood had scaled a three-feet iron railing and a moat wall with an incline to fall right into the white tiger enclosure.
At around 1 pm, he had found himself cowering under the gaze of seven-year-old white tiger Vijay, which stood a few inches away from him. Within 10 minutes, Maqsood was grabbed by the neck and dragged away. He died within minutes.
According to Delhi Police, a call was made to the police control room at around 1.16 pm. Sources said that a message was given through the intercom that a white tiger had attacked a man in the zoo. “Information was given to Hazrat Nizamuddin police station by constable Raj Kumar posted with J-56 PCR,” the source said.
On receipt of the information, staff of Hazrat Nizamuddin police station - Assistant Sub-Inspector Ashok Kumar and constable Ashok Kumar rushed to the zoo and went to the white tiger enclosure.
“The police team had found Maqsood’s body in a pool of blood on the south side of the enclosure with injury marks on the neck,” the source added.
Vijay had been locked in the cage, but the policemen claim that they failed to locate any ‘public witness’ in an FIR which was filed at 7 pm on Tuesday. The spot was later analysed by a crime team after which the body was taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre in a government vehicle by constable Ashok.