BHUBANESWAR : In a brazen act of hooliganism, two armed youths stormed into the office of the deputy director of Nandankanan Zoological Park, terrorized and assaulted the staff while vandalising property at will, here on Monday afternoon.
The zoo staff called a PCR van for assistance but bizarre as it may seem, the police team stayed put outside the office premises without bothering to act and even watched the miscreants flee the spot.
The duo, brandishing sharp weapons, created havoc on the office premises, punching and slapping defenceless officials, breaking mobile phones, electronic items and other furniture before leaving the spot.
The incident has raised serious questions as it occurred amidst heightened security for elections. The fact that the Nandankanan Police Station is a stone’s throw away was indicative that the miscreants did not care two hoots about police presence.
Sources said the anti-socials barged into the office at around 5 pm. They created a hostage like situation and terrorised almost all senior officials present in the office. The armed goons went inside office chambers one after the other and targeted two assistant conservators of forests (ACFs).
The manhandled biologist Dr Rajesh Mahapatra, ACFs Sudipta Kumar Panda and Dr Rashmi Ranjan Swain and Ashutosh Campa, audit officer in Forest, Environment and Climate Change department.
Zoo officials said they were clueless as to why the duo went on a rampage, smashing computers, laptops, printers, TV and furniture. For some, the ordeal did not end there as the miscreants re-entered into the chamber of one of the officials, snatched his mobile phone and broke it.
Hooligans terrorise zoo officials, police wait outside
They then attempted to barge into the zoo hospital by breaking its door.
Alerted, a PCR van arrived at the spot but its personnel acted as mute spectators and kept standing outside the zoo office. Even as the miscreants left on their motorcycle, the PCR vehicle personnel who were already present there neither attempted to nab or chase them.
“The zoo was closed on Monday and the reason behind the miscreants going there and attacking the officials is still unclear. Zone VI ACP is monitoring the investigation and all efforts are being made to nab them,” said Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh.
Sources said, one of the miscreants earlier had an altercation with a zoo staff over a trivial matter. He left only to return with a friend.