As lioness dies in Etawah, Akhilesh removes top bureaucrat

A lioness today died in Etawah district’s ‘Lion Safari’, prompting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to remove the Chief Forest Conservator.

Tapasya, a three-and-a-half-year-old lioness brought from Gujarat on December 28, died early this morning, director of the safari, Sanjay Srivastava said.

Tapasya, who came along with another lioness Jessica and a lion Pataudi, was taken ill soon after her arrival and was being treated by local as well as doctors from Bareilly, he said.

The post-mortem was performed by a team of doctors from Bareilly, Srivastava added.

The ‘Lion Safari’ is the pet project of the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.  Taking serious cognisance of the incident, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has directed to immediately remove Chief Forest Conservator S K Upadhyaya.

“The CM has directed to remove the chief forest conservator immediately,” an official spokesman said in Lucknow.

He said that a high-level committee has been constituted headed by retired IAS officer V N Garg to probe into such incidents.