Sandalwood trees stolen from Hyderabad zoo

HYDERABAD: In the second incident in a fortnight, and showing that security had not been tightened, two sandalwood trees were stolen from the Nehru Zoological Park on Sunday morning.

The trees were stolen from the area near Bahadurpura Nala, where the fencing was broken.

Bahadurpura detective inspector N. Shrishylam told Deccan Chronicle after visiting the site, “It is suspected that people who were involved in the earlier incidents, and who are familiar with this part of the zoo, took part in the theft. The area does not have any security camera, which the culprits might be aware of.”

He said the zoo had not filed any complaint.

Earlier, seven trees were felled near Thamin deer enclosures. The logs were abandoned by the thieves and a case was registered against unidentified persons.

During a visit by Lokesh Jayaswal, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), and chief wildlife warden in July, authorities had proposed to install electric fencing and CCTV cameras at vital points to prevent such incidents and to ramp up the security.

Zoo authorities were unavailable for comment on the incident. Police said that they registered a case and began investigations.