Man who tried shaking hands with lion sent to jail

A man, who jumped into the lions enclosure at Jawaharlal Nehru Zoological Park here to shake hands with the big cats, was on Monday sent by a court here to two weeks judicial custody.

Police registered a case against Mukesh Kumar, 35, who hails from Rajasthan, under the Indian Penal Code and the Wildlife (Protection) Act and produced him before a local court, which sent him to jail.

Police also found that Mukesh was drunk condition when he jumped into the enclosure, in which African pair Radhika and Kishan are lodged, on Sunday. He told the police that he is a labourer and had come to Hyderabad a few weeks ago.

Zoo authorities came under criticism for loose security system prevailing in the zoo with at least six instances of youths going close to the animals for selfies with them or animals jumping out of their enclosures in the recent past. A youth was allowed to touch and play with a tiger cub three months ago, allegedly after he had managed to bribe the guards there.

--IANS

pavan/vd