M A I N   N E W S

6 Pak troops killed

JAMMU, Oct 6 (PTI) — Six Pakistani soldiers were killed and several injured when a Pakistan post caught fire and two other bunkers damaged in exchange of shelling and firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Laam sub-sector of Rajouri last night, a senior Army official said here today.

Pakistani troops intensified mortar shelling and firing along the (LoC) in the Poonch and Rajouri sectors of Jammu division, Brigadier-General Staff (BGS), Nagrota corps Headquarters, Brig Randhir Sinh said.

Troops guarding the LoC retaliated, he said, adding that the exchange of firing took place in the Laam, Noushera, Krishnagati, Bhimber Gali and Sabzian areas.

One Pakistan post caught fire near Laam and was burnt. Besides, two bunkers were also damaged, he said.

According to official sources, two civilians were injured in Pakistan firing along the LoC and International Border (IB) in the Poonch and Jammu sectors yesterday.

However, there was no loss of life or damage to property in other areas along the LoC, where Pakistan troops indulged in firing.

Along the IB, an exchange of firing between the BSF and Pakistan rangers took place in various areas, including Abdullian, Sangral, Mangral, Nikowal, Pindi, Zero Point, Border Out Posts (BOP) in Samba and R S Pura sub-sectors, the sources said.

Poachers kill tiger in zoo

HYDERABAD, Oct 6 (PTI) — Close on the heels of the death of a Nandankanan Zoo tiger due to exhaustion during transit at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, a one-year-old female tiger “Sakhi” was gruesomely killed by poachers who slit its head and peeled off the skin in Nehru Zoological Park here on Wednesday night, B. Trinadha Rao, Conservator of the zoo said today.

“The incident came to light only yesterday when an animal keeper on duty went to tiger safari park to release five tigers from their cages in the morning,” he said.

Four employees — the animal keeper, the watchman of the park, forester and zoo sergeant — were placed under suspension pending an inquiry.

Mr Rao, who did not rule out the possibility of the 100-kg tiger being sedated before being dragged out from her cage, said the carcass has been sent to Veterinary Biological Research Institute (VBRI) here for conducting detailed post-mortem to assess the cause of death.

Narrating the sequence of events, the zoo Conservator said “our animal keeper went to the safari park yesterday morning and noticed that the lock of animal house of the tiger park was broken open and carcass of a tiger was floating in the nearby water tank”.

Top officials of the zoo, alerted by the animal keeper, rushed to the spot and after inspection found that some intruders entered the park on October 4 night and broke open the lock of the gate of the animal house where the big cats were caged during the night.

There was evidence of blood on the floor of the cubicle where the tiger was caged which shows that the poachers dragged the tiger to some distance after killing it, Mr Rao said.

They carefully removed the tiger’s skin and pulled out two nails from her front paw before throwing the carcass in a water tank used by the tigers for drinking water, he said.

Describing the incident as first of its kind in the annals of zoo park history of the country, Mr Rao said there were 18 tigers, including four white tigers in the zoo after the death of the tiger.

While five tigers were being kept in the safari park in the open during the day, the rest would be housed in cages in the general zoo area, he said.

Recently, two tigers — Rajendra and Rudra — from the Nandankanan Zoo were sent here after a brief sojourn at Visakhapatnam. One of its mate, a 15-year-old lion died on way to Visakhapatnam due to exhaustion.

The zoo has a strength of seven to eight ward boys who patrol the safari park from outside during nights, Mr Rao said, adding that security would be tightened hereafter.