CHENNAI: A 43-year-old man was arrested by the Tiruvallur town police for killing 16 stray dogs by poisoning their food, as these animals continuously attacked and bit his pigeons and hens.
The arrested man was identified as Vetri Vendhan, 43, a resident of Tiruvallur town. Police said he is a BSP district functionary and involved in the real estate business.Police traced the suspect with the help of CCTV camera footage.
Police said they registered a case based on the complaint filed by a resident, Karthikeyan. He claimed that he had been raising a stray dog, and the dog died mysteriously in the field on the morning of 2nd October. An investigation officer said, “Karthikeyan raised a doubt that many stray dogs died in a similar way on 2nd October.”
Planned to kill dogs by poison-mixed food
Tiruvallur town deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Tamilarasi and her team probed the issue. The cops collected the CCTV camera footage, but they found the footage was not clear, as a man walked with a bucket, left some food on the field, and walked away. “As the cops had limited footage, they battled to track the suspect. Meanwhile, during the investigation, police were informed that in another similar incident reported on 22nd September, another bunch of stray dogs were also killed,” said the officer.
Following this, the police team collected the CCTV camera footage and tracked the suspect. They found it was Vetri Vendhan, and during questioning, he admitted to having killed the stray dogs.
He told police the stray dogs continuously attacked his flocks of pigeons and brood of hens from the shed. Following this, he devised a plan to kill the dogs and left the poison-mixed food, killing some dogs on 21st September, and later he again killed another bunch of dogs on 1st October.
Tiruvallur town police inspector D. Antony Stalin registered a case against Vetri Vendhan and booked him under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 for poisoning and killing dogs.
The arrested Vetri Vendhan was produced before a magistrate court in Tiruvallur and remanded in judicial custody.