Two owls of rare species go missing from Bir Talab zoo

Sumeer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 23

The Sadar police have booked an unidentified person for allegedly stealing two owls from the Bir Talab zoo.

After the two owls of rare barn species went missing under mysterious circumstances around three weeks ago, officials of the Forest Department started investigation at their own end.

But as they didn’t get any substantial lead in the matter, they reported the matter to the police.

District Forest Officer Amritpal Singh Brar said, “They received two baby owls of rare barn species six months ago. We have been raising these with a lot of care since then. But three weeks ago, the caretaker came to us and informed that somebody had taken away two owls. After conducting an inquiry at our end, we reported the matter to the police. The guard who was on night duty when the incident occurred, has been transferred to Rampura Phul.”

Surprisingly, there were three owls in the cage and the thief took only two.

DSP Jaspinder Singh and Station House Officer at the Sadar police station said, “We have recorded statements of the caretaker and other officials of the Bir Talab zoo. We will scrutinise the CCTV footage of entry and exit points of the zoo to zero in on the accused. On the complaint of Sohan Singh, who is a garud at the zoo, we have registered a case against an unidentified person under Sections 150 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code. The investigation is on to nab the accused.”