Six deer were reported stolen from the botanical garden of Bahauddin Zakriya University in the last week, leaving only two behind.
University administration said that four deer were stolen from the university a few days ago. They said while an inquiry was underway, two more deer went missing from the garden on Wednesday. Complaints have been registered with the Alpa police, they said.
The botanical garden is spread over 1,000 acres and is home to various animal and bird species.
According to the university administration, four were fully grown deer and two were fawns.
One of the senior security guards on duty at the garden on the night the second set of deer were stolen told The Express Tribune that his shift changed in the morning. He said he was certain that the deer were present in the garden when he handed over charge to the next shift. He said three hours later, he was informed that two fawns were missing.
BZU security officer Khalil Khor said that it was the first time animal theft had occurred at the university. He said an initial report had been submitted to the vice chancellor. He accused the security staff of negligence.
He said he was informed that the vice chancellor had changed the inquiry officer who was conducting the investigation earlier. The name of the new inquiry officer had not been revealed yet, he said.
BZU’s assistant director (state) Prof Amir Nawaz, who is responsible for the botanical garden, told The Express Tribune that experts with sniffer dogs had been called for initial investigation, but they had not been able to find the deer.
While the university administration has registered a complaint with the police, they have asked them to start their investigations after the university’s inquiry is complete. No suspects have yet been nominated.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2012.
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