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Zoo trespasser identified, was mentally unstable

CHANDIGARH:Following the leads in Chhatbir Zoo’s heart-wrenching incident in which a man was killed by lioness Shilpa and Yuvraj after he trespassed on the Lion Safari by scaling a 15-foot-high wall, SI Baljinder Singh of the Zirakpur police station, who is investigating the case, identified the deceased as 34-year-old Jatashankar, a resident of Bhuraveer Ghat, Motipur, Bahraich, UP.

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Amarjot Kaur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22

Following the leads in Chhatbir Zoo’s heart-wrenching incident in which a man was killed by lioness Shilpa and Yuvraj after he trespassed on the Lion Safari by scaling a 15-foot-high wall, SI Baljinder Singh of the Zirakpur police station, who is investigating the case, identified the deceased as 34-year-old Jatashankar, a resident of Bhuraveer Ghat, Motipur, Bahraich, UP.

On looking at his medical sheet, he found that Jatashankar was mentally challenged and had been undergoing treatment at a Gorakhpur hospital.

On Monday evening, Jatashankar’s nephew Salesh Morya, who works for an online sales company and lives in a rented accommodation at Ravindra Enclave, Baltana, had visited the Baltana police chowki to file a missing complaint about his maternal uncle. “He (Jatashankar) had gone missing from my house around 7 am on Sunday. We kept searching for him the entire day,” said Salesh. He was guided to visit the Zirakpur police station the following morning after he failed to recognise a photograph of his dead uncle. “I was shown a gory picture, but it was beyond recognition. In the morning, when I reached Zirakpur, the police took me to the Dera Bassi Civil Hospital where I identified him. Following this, a consent letter was given by his blood relatives and the postmortem was conducted,” said his nephew.

Divulging more details about his uncle, he said Jatashankar came visiting him in search of a job a week ago. He asked this correspondent to speak to his youngest brother, Rajnikant. On the phone, Rajnikant said, “Jatashankar was a graduate and had knowledge of computers. He had worked in Noida for three years before returning to the village after our father died in 2008. He had suffered nerve damage in his spine and was also undergoing mental treatment at Gorakhpur for five years. He was tense about his farming career and wanted a job.”

Rajnikant said Jatashankar was married and had two kids — son Krishna, who was over seven years old,  and six-year-old daughter Nandini. “His wife is a homemaker. In the initial stage of his illness, he would wander into the jungle some 100 or 200 meters away from our house  in the village and soliloquise frequently. In fact, he had been stable for about two years and was under medication. We’ll be bringing his body back home for cremation.”

Sangeeta Jain, senior medical officer, Dera Bassi Civil Hospital, while citing the cause of death, said, “There was a severe wound in the victim’s neck; his windpipe was ruptured and so were his carotid arteries. Also, there were multiple abrasion marks on his body.”

Jatashankar was the second of four brothers in his family and had three sisters, two of whom had died, said Rajnikant. 

Panel to look into incident

Kuldeep Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Punjab Forest and Wildlife Department, said he had constituted a committee under Wildlife CCF Basanta Raj Kumar, with three other officers, who would submit a report within a week. “On the basis of the report, we’ll take appropriate measures to avoid such incidents. This committee will visit each and every enclosure to see the security there and make a fool-proof action plan for each enclosure,” he said.

When we saw the wall from outside, the wall didn’t measure over 18 ft. Kuldeep, who visited the zoo, said, “From the inside, the wall is about 8 to 10 ft and on top of it is an 18-foot chain link. From outside, there’s silting, so the soil must have gathered.”

He stressed beefing up the security at the zoo. “The issue of increasing the security was discussed in the zoo society meeting and we concluded that we will get our people further trained, with regard to visitor security. There’s a quick response team also, and there are regular training sessions from the Central Zoo Authority of India. In case of suicidal intruders, we can’t do much than to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.” On the absence of warning signs on the outside wall of the Safari, Kumar reiterated that the panel would make an action plan for this too. 


Was dancing like a lunatic: Residents

Residents of Chhat village said before jumping into the Lion Safari, Jatashankar was "dancing like a lunatic" at a village wedding and was barefoot. "His pants were torn," said a resident, while a woman from the vicinity said a few of her friends, who were collecting wood from the area behind the safari, had even warned the man of lions inside the enclosure. "They had told him about the lions inside the safari, but he wouldn't listen. He said he wanted to offer his body to the lions."


Jatashankar was a graduate and had knowledge of computers. He had worked in Noida for three years before returning to the village after our father died in 2008. He had suffered nerve damage in his spine and was also undergoing mental treatment at Gorakhpur for five years. He was tense about his farming career and wanted a job.— Rajnikant, Victim’s Brother

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