The officials called in to trap the animal were not even carrying a tranquiliser, only a net and a rope.

Around 11 on Friday morning, a resident of Modern Housing Complex in Manimajra spotted a sambar in the complex. The animal held up traffic in the area for quite some time.

“It was injured and blood was oozing out of its jaws. I informed the police and wildlife officials,” said Satish Chander, a local resident.

The wildlife team reportedly tied up the animal’s legs despite the fact that it had injury marks all over its body.

Three officials caught the animal in a net and grounded it by kicking it with boots and sticks. The animal was shoved into the boot of a jeep and taken away to Sukhna wildlife sanctuary. The sambar was a 4-year-old male.

Onlookers had their bit of fun watching the animal being kicked and manhandled. A large crowd gathered on the spot.

Ironically, policemen were also deployed in the area as a precautionary measure so that the crowd could not hurt the animal.

The officials, wishing not to be named, admitted that they did not have a tranquiliser gun. “These wild animals can be caught only this way. Is there any need to use a tranquiliser for them?,” said an official.

Chief Wildlife Warden Ishwar Singh expressed his shock over the fact that the officials had not even used a tranquiliser gun to subdue the animal.