Patna, Dec. 19: A wild sprint through a crowded road in the state capital turned fatal for a blue bull today as it suffered grievous injuries while running away from a group of scared people.
Witnesses said as the bull tried to jump over a boundary wall of Mahima Palace, a residential complex on the busy Govind Mitra Road, the iron grille on the wall pierced its stomach. “The animal remained stuck there for quite some time, bleeding profusely. Some people came forward and rescued the bull with bamboos,” said Amar Kumar, a resident.
“Once the bull was free, it got up on its feet and ran straight to a garment shop. The animal, however, lost its balance and fell down inside the shop, bleeding and groaning,” he added.
It was then that some residents called up the Pirbhore police station and the forests and environment department.
“I called up the forests and environment department around 10.45am, nearly 20 minutes after the animal was injured. Though the police reached about half-an-hour later, there was no sign of any forests department official,” said Saurav Bhattacharya, another resident of the area.
The forests department officials claimed they had reached the spot soon after the incident and were waiting for the crowd to clear the area before they could rescue the bull.
“Around 11.40am, one person reached the spot and claimed that he was from the forests department. When people challenged his identity, he said a team from the department was following. But by then, the animal had become extremely weak and was hardly making any movement,” Bhattacharya added.
Indu Devi, the owner of the garments store, said: “Barely a few minutes after we had opened the shop, the bull rushed inside and fell down. Nobody from the forests department came to its rescue. The animal died around 12noon.”
She added that some residents tied up the animal’s legs and took the carcass to the veterinary hospital of the animal and fish resources department.
The carcass lied unattended for hours at the hospital. “The doctor will come around 3pm. We can’t do anything before that,” a hospital attendant said.
Divisional forest officer Surender Singh said: “The forests department team had reached the spot with tranquillisers, but the animal was in a state of shock. There was a huge crowd and our men were waiting for them to disperse.”
The forests department officials’ wait proved to be too long for the bull’s chances of survival.