A city court on Monday framed charges against two nursing students accused of killing 16 puppies on the NRS Medical College and Hospital campus last January.

The additional chief judicial magistrate, Sealdah criminal court, charged Moutushi Mondal, 22, and Soma Burman, 22, under Section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming animals) of the IPC and Section 11(L) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act.

“If the charges are proved, the students can be jailed for up to five years or fined or both,” a criminal lawyer at Calcutta High Court said.

Both students, who are now out on bail, were present in the court when the magistrate announced the charges. They pleaded “not guilty” and said they had been “falsely implicated” in the case.

Last year, 16 puppies were found dead in a bag outside the hospital’s parking lot on the campus.

The post-mortem suggested they had been beaten to death. Based on witness accounts and a 28-second video clip (a student had apparently videoed the killings), officers of Entally police station arrested the two women.

The investigators had concluded it was a planned killing and some students and nurses were in favour of it.

Some students and hospital employees had apparently lured the puppies with biscuits and shut all gates before the animals were killed, apparently by Mondal and Burman. The police had seized a stick, apparently used in the killing.

The video clip had been circulated on social media and the hospital had set up a three-member committee to investigate the matter.

The committee questioned 55 nursing students and nurses.

The police had submitted the chargesheet in October under sections 429 and 201 (tampering with evidence) of the IPC. The court on Monday dropped the tampering charges.