HYDERABAD: Unidentified persons chopped down and made away with 10 sandalwood trees, five each in the bear safari and deer safari zones of the Nehru Zoological Park on Friday night. Authorities discovered the theft at about 10.30 am on Saturday. Similar incidents were reported in 2018 and 2019.
Upon receiving a complaint, the police said that the thieves had entered the zoo by cutting the fence. The police said the thieves may have entered the zoo posing as tourists and found a blind spot of CCTV cameras.
The police said the thieves passed through a burial ground and crossed a rocky hillock to climb a wall and cut the fencing. They entered through the bear safari as they were aware that bears were locked in cages at night.
The police also found empty diesel cans near the cut trees, indicating the use of a diesel-run compact hand pruner to cut the five-metre-tall trees that were 30-40 centimetres in diameter.
Two security guards posted during the night were found not to have been present during the time of the theft.
“We will go through the CCTV footage on the main road to identify the culprits and take stern action against them,” M. Raju of Bahadurpura police said.
