Mumbai: BJP Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar on Friday demanded a SIT probe into BMC’s bringing of Humboldt penguins into Byculla zoo. Shelar’s demand came on the back of a heated exchange between BJP and Shiv Sena on the issue in the assembly.

Shelar alleged that one of the penguins died after bringing it to the zoo because it was already infected by bacteria. “The company that was appointed to take care of the penguins had no experience of the work. The representative of the company was already blacklisted. The partners shown by the company were bogus and hence, a SIT should conduct an investigation into the entire procurement,” he demanded.

Eight Humboldt penguins were brought from Chile and Peru to the city zoo in 2016 however the exercise did not go down well with wildlife experts who termed it “wasteful and unnecessary”. Also, allegations and counter-allegations flew thick and fast between Sena and BJP on bringing the penguins here.

The eight penguins, including three males and five females, were named after popular cartoon characters i.e. Molt, Flipper, Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Bubble and Dory. However, in October 2016, Dory (male) died for which Sena received flak from all quarters. Even the Bombay high court observed that while it was not against exhibition of penguins at the Byculla zoo, if it found that the animals were not being properly cared for, it would issue directions to send them back to their country of origin.