Man mauled to death by bears identified, kin informed

CHHATBIR, Oct 20: The man who was mauled to death by two Himalayan bears at the MC Zoological Park, Chhatbir yesterday has been identified as Baldev Singh alias "Bittu."

According to police sources, the deceased was a resident of Chatta Camp (Poorkulia area) in Jammu and was working as a truck driver at Jalandhar. His father, Ghasita Ram, is a labourer. The man jumped the railings and tried to "shake hands" with a bear. But the beast pulled him into the enclosure and along with another bear mauled him to death. Six unarmed zoo guards reached 15 minutes after the man had been pulled down. The family has been informed and is expected to reach Rajpura by late evening today.The body has been sent for post mortem at Civil Hospital, Rajpura and the report is awaited.

Apparently, the deceased was accompanied by some people when he visited the zoo yesterday. The police is trying to locate his companions, sources said. Truck keys have been found from the victim’s pocket but the vehicle is yet to be traced.