Kamal Ghorui
HYDERABAD: About 300 dog carcasses were found dumped in a pit in Jagtial district in the latest case of alleged mass killing of strays in Telangana, taking the total number of stray dogs found dead in the state this month to nearly 900. The latest “killings” in Pegadapally, roughly 200km from Hyderabad, occurred Thursday, allegedly on orders from the village sarpanch, animal rights activists claimed.Based on a complaint by Preethi Mudavath from Stray Animal Foundation of India, police registered an FIR against the village sarpanch and gram panchayat secretary, among others, under sections 325 read with 3(5) of BNS, and Section 11(1)(a) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 (dealing with killing and poisoning of animals by multiple persons).
The complainant said, “I visited the village Friday and filed a complaint after finding the carcasses near the boundary limit of the village.” Preethi told TOI villagers informed her the lethal injections were administered by two women.The complainant claimed when they first saw the pit — allegedly dug up to bury the carcasses — it was only half full. “But by evening about 75% of the pit was filled with the bodies of dogs,” Preethi said.“Later, the bodies were transported with the help of gram panchayat workers in tractors and buried in a pit about two km from the village,” she added.At least three cases of mass killings of stray dogs have been reported from Kamareddy, Jagtial, Hanumakonda and Ranga Reddy districts in the last few weeks. In most cases, FIRs were registered against newly-elected sarpanches and other representatives who allegedly ordered the killings to fulfil their poll promises. While about 300 dogs were “killed” by administering lethal injections in Hanumakonda, another 200 carcasses were found in Kamareddy, 100 in Ranga Reddy and about 30 in Jagtial.“We have registered a case and started our probe,” said a cop at Pegadapally police station.
