The accused who is an ex-Armyman said onlookers told him not to let go of the dog as it was a mad dog and would bite him.
Four days after a video surfaced on social media of a person allegedly strangling a street dog to death with his feet in Noida's Sector 45 on Friday night; the man has been identified and detained by the Noida Police on Monday evening.
The accused was served notice under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
According to police, the accused has been identified as Dhan Singh, 48, an ex-army person serving as a traffic marshal in Noida. He was employed by the Noida Authority who have given employment to 50
ex-servicemen in Noida as traffic marshals to help the traffic police.
The case was initiated a day after clearer visuals of the man killing the animal surfaced.
"The man has been served notice and his offence will be duly recorded in the charge sheet. There is no provision for arrest under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. He was detained to record his statement in the case," said Ajay Kumar Singh, the station house officer of Sector 39 police station.
According to police, Dhan in his statement has said that he was not drunk but had gone to buy vegetables when a stray dog barked at him. In his defence, he stepped on the dog. Just then, some onlookers in the market told him not to let go of the animal as it was a mad dog and it would bite him.
Dhan's statement comes in response to Friday's incident where an 18-second video clip shot by a passerby, and posted on social media, had gone viral. The clip showed a heavily drunk traffic police personnel standing on a dog. Despite several requests from the onlookers, he continued to stand on the dog and after about an hour, it died.
The incident took place at Som Bazaar in Noida Sector 45 between 9pm and 10 pm.
The Humane Society International (HSI), an animal protection organisation, had then approached the police to register a complaint in the matter under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. They had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for any information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person seen in the video.
Noida police officers said that they are further investigating the case.
Analysis
The current law to prevent cruelty to animals carries petty fines an no prosecution. So there is no strong legal deterrent to stop people from harming animals.
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