O’ dear, not again!

CHANDIGARH, Dec 17: Another sambhar strayed into the city this morning but unfortunately, she could not return alive. Forest Department o...

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CHANDIGARH, Dec 17: Another sambhar strayed into the city this morning but unfortunately, she could not return alive. Forest Department officials say they had captured the doe alive; it is not known whether she died of heart attack or succumbed to her injuries. The post-mortem report is awaited.Some of those who watched the Forest Department staff overpower the small animal blamed the men for the sambhar’s death.

Around 8.30 a.m., the Forest Department received a call that a sambhar was seen hiding in a wood grove near the Haryana Chief Minister’s residence. Within minutes, the personnel reached the spot and, with the help of CRPF personnel, caught the deer.

Though deer coming into the city is not uncommon in this season, the Forest Department staff appeared non-professional in their approach. Some 10 men, hooting and waving their arms, cornered the frightened creature and fell on it like kabaddi players tackling an opponent. Attempting to flee, she got entangled in barbed wires, injuring her neck and mouth, which bled profusely. When the deer fell, the men piled on it. As a bystander remarked: "A leopard couldn’t have withstood that bunch."

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Officials said they had decided against bringing the tranquiliser gun as the dart could have killed the animal. A jeep-trailer was summoned to transport the doe but it took more than an hour to reach because, the officials claimed, the driver had trouble locating the spot. The deer could only be removed around 10 a.m. and it was apparently unconscious and had lost a lot of blood.

"When we reached the Nepli forest range, nearly 5 km from the spot, where we were to release the animal, it had died," an official said.