Overview

• A canter carrying roughly 20–25 tourists, including children, broke down around 6 pm and the group remained in the dark until about 7:30 pm, with videos showing distressed passengers using phone lights.
• Deputy Conservator Pramod Dhakad said guide Mukesh Kumar Bairwa and drivers Kanhaiya, Shehzad Chaudhary and Liaqat Ali are barred from park entry pending an investigation led by Assistant Conservator Ashwini Pratap, with a report due in three days.
• The group was evacuated around 7:30 pm after a tourist reached the Rajbagh Naka post to seek help, though the replacement canter reportedly lacked headlights.
• Officials cited multiple lapses, including the guide’s absence from his gate post in breach of duty, a missing standby vehicle at the forest post and a returning canter’s failure to assist when directed.
• Field leadership pledged tighter checks on vehicles and operations, and the department limited any age-extension for safari vehicles to a one-year relaxation.