A farmer and his 35-year-old son were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly poisoning to death a street dog and its 11 puppies at Chapra in Nadia district.

Police arrested Hazrat Biswas, 61, and Miyajan on the basis of a complaint lodged by their neighbour Suchitra Biswas, who is a homemaker. The dogs’ killing angered local residents, who gheraoed the house of the accused persons at Bagmara and tried to drag them out on Tuesday afternoon. A police team arrived on time and controlled the situation.

The police sent the bodies of the 12 dogs for autopsy to a veterinary hospital in Krishnagar. The father-son duo were booked under several sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and for mischief by killing the dogs.

Miyajan The Telegraph Picture

Hazrat and Miyajan were produced in a court in Krishnagar later in the day and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. The police and local sources said a street dog had bitten Miyajan’s eight-year-old daughter a few days back. Miyajan wanted to trap the particular dog, but couldn’t. He then randomly beated up several other dogs in the area.
A police officer said: “Miyajan’s family had suspected that one of the dogs reared by their neighbour, Subrata Biswas, had bitten the girl. Eventually, it appeared that they conspired to eliminate 11 puppies and their mother for this suspicion.”

The family reportedly threatened Subrata and his family with dire consequences and asked them to “control” the animals. “They came to our home and threatened us saying they would poison the dogs. But we never imagined that they would really kill innocent puppies in such a way,” said Subrata.

“We were shocked to find the puppies lying dead outside our residence yesterday morning. Some dogs were found in a critical condition and they later died. Eleven puppies and their mother died. Later, my wife lodged a complaint,” he added.

The police said the father-son duo fed the dogs food spiked with poison. The puppies were just 10-days-old