Claims of curbing the population of stray canines have been proved hollow with the surfacing of a video showing a Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) truck releasing mongrels in the Hathi Khana area of the state capital.

The seven-minute CCTV footage shows more than nine dogs, earlier captured from various neighbourhoods, being unloaded from the truck.

Residents in the area say that the dog squad vehicle is doing this continuously. If refused, they threaten and intimidate. If someone makes a video, they force them to delete it.

Resident Mohammad Ayub said that the BMC Dog Squad vehicle consistently unleashes stray dogs in the area before speeding away."There must be 200 to 250 dogs from Bhoipura Hathi Khana to Budhwara Square. Such a large number of stray canines has become a cause of trouble for the people here," he said.

"We are afraid to go out. We do not allow our children to go out. The situation is such that these dogs even come to our homes and pounce on vehicles. We have complained about this many times, but instead of rescuing them, BMC workers release them in our area," he complained.

Animal activist Swati Gaurav said that it is wrong to release dogs from one area to another in this way, because vaccinated and non-vaccinated dogs become aggressive towards each other.

On one hand, they are at risk from each other; on the other hand, it also enhances the risk of dog bites. By releasing dogs in residential areas in this way, they enter the colonies. Aggression is also seen between the dogs already present in the area and the new arrivals.

As a result, this can increase the risk of dog bites in humans. This is a violation of the rules of the ABC Rule 2023.

BMC Health Officer Rajiv Saxena said, "I have seen the video. The dogs that have been left were picked up from there. They were left there. As per the rules, the dogs are left at the same place from where they are picked up."

On Saturday morning, a pack of five dogs attacked printing press businessman Krishna Ranjan Sharma, who was riding a bike in the Govindpura area.Sharma was on his way to drop his daughter at school at the time of the incident. When Sharma threw stones to chase away the attacking dogs, he was assaulted by the pet owners, Ritu and Namrata Vishwakarma, who beat him up.The attacking dogs were pets of the duo, who have been named as accused in the FIR lodged with the Govindpura police.