Dubai: A disturbing video from the Indian state of Punjab is going viral on Twitter, showing a man deliberately crushing a stray dog under his car. Reportedly, the man seen in the video is Gurinder Singh, a breeder who sells dogs for dog fights. Angry Twitter users in India shared updates that he mistreated animals who were strays or were of no use to him any longer.
The CCTV camera footage that was tweeted by Member of Parliament and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi, was re-shared by many animal lovers, and caused a social media outcry demanding state authorities to take immediate action.
On Tuesday evening, Gandhi tweeted: "This is Gurinder Singh, son of Harbans Singh, village Dandupur, Kapurthala in Punjab. He is a breeder and seller of dogs for dog fights. This is what he does to dogs when they are no longer useful. This dog died after 30 minutes of being in excruciating pain."
The shocking video shows a dog lying on the road when a man enters his car, and crushes the poor animal, before speeding away. The injured dog can be seen getting up in pain, leaving behind a pool of blood on the road.
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Locals in the area called People For Animals (PFA) activists immediately after the incident. They told the activists that the dog died within 30 minutes after being brutally crushed by the accused.
Using the man’s car registration number that was visible in the video, PFA activists traced his whereabouts. And, he was identified as Gurinder Singh who lives in Dandupur village in Kapurthala.
Reportedly, after PFA activists filed a complaint at the Tanwandi Chaudharian Police Station, a First Information Report was registered
According to Indian news reports PFA member Shalini, said: "Our team members found that the vehicle is registered in the name of one Harbans Singh. His son had kept a number of dogs in small cages. He was not found at home. An FIR has been registered but he has not been arrested so far.”
The report added that Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Avatar Singh said: "We have registered a case against the accused. We have no information about the dog. Action will be taken against the accused under the law.”
When PFA activists visited the accused's home along with police officials yesterday, he was not at home. However, during the investigation, it was found that the accused used to run a dog-fight ring, and kept several dogs in captivity to use in those fights. Several dogs were found kept caged in a rice field near Singh's house.
Sadly, even though dog fights are illegal under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the activity was banned by the Supreme Court in 2014, such fights still take place in Delhi, and nearby areas of Punjab and Haryana, according to reports.
The caged animals were rescued by the cops and PFA members. On report said that according to sources who were at the scene, the accused man's family tried to release the dogs at the police team and even threw puppies at them.
Hours later, Gandhi released a second video which showed the place where he caged the dogs after using them for fight shows. She tweeted: “At night, he took all these dogs and threw them in the lake behind his house. One dog drowned and the others have been rescued by PFA. This man should go to jail.”
Gandhi also tagged Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, as well as the state and district police in her tweet.
The accused is at large, however, police officials have claimed he will be arrested soon.
