Mumbai: Truck driver held for ‘killing’ stray dog gets bail

Yadav was placed under arrest and booked for rash and negligent driving and killing an animal.

The driver of a garbage truck was arrested Sunday for allegedly running over and killing a stray dog in Mahalaxmi on Sunday morning. He was later released on bail. The incident took place outside the office of NGO, The Welfare of Stray Dogs, at Dhobi Ghat in Mahalaxmi. The police said a six-year-old male dog, who had been named Raju, had been sleeping outside the NGO’s gates when the garbage truck drove into the lane.

“The lane where our kennel and sterilisaiton centre is located is so narrow that when a truck enters, there is not enough space to walk,” said Naveen Sharma, who works at the NGO. He added that the dog had been adopted by the residents of a slum in the lane. “The slum dwellers had been evicted recently, as the place is undergoing redevelopment. They left the dog behind and since then, the dog had been staying outside our centre,” he said.

Sharma said local people told the driver to stop as he hadn’t spotted the sleeping dog. But the man drove straight ahead crushing the dog under the truck’s wheels. Sharma called up the police control room and informed them of the accident. Truck driver, Arjun Yadav (27), was caught by the local people and later handed over to the police.
Yadav was placed under arrest and booked for rash and negligent driving and killing an animal. Savlaram Agawane, senior inspector, Agripada police station, said Yadav has been released on bail.