Cop's act of benevolence leaves many spellbound

A Delhi Police head constable spent a night with a half-eaten puppy’s body for preserving the evidence in the police station. Though the whole IO (Investigating Officer) room kept stinking, the policeman remained inside with the dog’s torso ensuring no one could disturb the case property. Head Constable Shivpal, posted with Vasant Kunj South Police Station, was investigating the case of a missing stray puppy who was allegedly killed by a resident in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj South area.

Next morning, after a veterinary hospital agreed to conduct the post-mortem on the torso, the head constable could finally bury the body. Meanwhile, the accused was arrested and was later released on bail under the relevant Sections of Animal Protection Act. The investigation is still underway. Two weeks ago, Shivpal was attending an accident call when he was asked to attend another call transferred from the PCR to police station from Kusumpur Pahari in Vasant Kunj South that a half-eaten body of a puppy has been discovered. The body was among the three puppies missing from the locality. Their missing complaint was also was lodged in the police station. 

The head constable while talking to The Pioneer said, “I immediately rushed to the spot and collected the body of the puppy lying in the park. The lower portion of the body was eaten by animals.” “I took the body of the puppy to a veterinary hospital in West Delhi but the doctors refused to conduct autopsy on it. After that, I approached two more veterinary hospitals but was rejected from both the places as the doctors informed me that they do not conduct autopsy on such bodies (torso),” Shivpal said. The autopsy was mandatory to ascertain the case of the death. 

The call was made by a female resident Anamika alias Priya who told police that she suspected the involvement of her neighbour Ranbir, who is a part-time sweeper, in the killing. She claimed that two more puppies from outside her house were also missing.“The woman told us that Ranbir often objected to her habit of feeding stray dogs as they often barked at him unnecessarily. We picked up Ranbir for questioning and during sustained grilling, he confessed to killing three puppies after attacking them with a rod. The bodies of puppies were suspected to be eaten by the animals,” said Shivpal.

“Since it was a case property, I could not leave it anywhere. I took it to the police station and kept it with me so that it could be preserved till morning. I kept it on the ice bricks and remained in the same room so that it could be saved from being eaten by rodents or insects. The room was stinking and my colleagues also complaint of that. But it was a case property…,”he said. “On next morning, I somehow convinced a doctor to conduct the autopsy in a South Delhi’s veterinary hospital. Then, I buried the body in South Delhi’s jungle,” he added.

On the same day, he arrested Ranbir who disclosed that he killed the puppies with iron rod and dumped their bodies in the park. Ranbir was booked under Sections 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle, etc., of any value or any animal of the value of `50) of the IPC and Section 11(1)(l) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and later got bail.