Nagpur: Social media went abuzz on Sunday with people posting disturbing CCTV footage showing two men mercilessly beating stray dogs to death with iron rods. Allegedly, the men also threatened to attack the residents who tried to stop this barbaric act.
The police have arrested the perpetrators and booked them under sections Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Indian Penal Code (IPC).
After the footage went viral on Sunday morning, animal activists rushed to a slum area near Nag temple in Shanti Nagar where the incident took place. On inquiring with the locals, they found that the incident took place around 6am the same day. “The men are believed to be local pig breeders. The stray dogs must have chased their pigs. To take revenge, they mercilessly beat them to death,” said Smita Mire, founder of Save Speechless Organisation (SSO).
The men first trapped the dogs using a net. “They captured them in the net and made sure the dogs could not escape,” said animal activist Swapnil Bodhane.
The first 25 seconds of the footage shows a man brutally thrashing the dogs with a long iron rod while another man is holding the net from one end. After two dogs get unconscious, the second man also starts beating the remaining two dogs, smashing their heads. In the end of the footage, the two are seen dragging away the dogs.
While remains of one dog were found, another severely injured dog was sent to Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) animal shelter in Bhandewadi. Activists suspect the remaining two dogs are dead and are trying to trace their bodies. NMC veterinary officer Dr Gajendra Mahalle informed that post-mortem will be conducted on Monday.
The footage is of a CCTV camera installed at a residence. The incident has created panic among residents who are too afraid to talk. “When some of them tried to stop the men, the latter threatened to attack them with the rods. We all saw what happened but we were too scared to interfere,” said a local.
Animal activist Arvind Raturi of King Cobra Organisation filed a first information report (FIR) with Shanti Nagar police station following which the two accused were immediately arrested. They have been identified as 25-year-old Ratan Chamke and Nitin Satpute. Senior PI Kishor Nagrale of Shanti Nagar police station said that investigation was in progress. “We will be taking statements from the witnesses following which a charge sheet will be filed,” he told TOI.
Activists have also reported the matter to Union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi, who is the chairwoman of People For Animals (PFA), seeking her intervention in the case.
In December last year, gruesome videos of a man thrashing a monkey hung upside down from a tree with a belt, stick and his footwear had surfaced. The incident took place at Kurha village in Washim district and the man was booked under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
