Cop kills dog by stepping on it; Noida police justifies

In a sequence of events that defies belief, the Noida Police has embarked on a bizarre and outrageous social media campaign to justify the brutal killing of a dog in full public view by one of its traffic police personnel.

In the incident which had taken place on Friday at Noida's Sector 45 and was caught on camera, a Traffic police person who passersby said was in an inebriated state killed a stray dog that had barked at him by stepping on its neck and mouth. Eyewitness accounts indicate that the man stayed in that position for almost an hour, ignoring people's protests and guaranteeing the animal a painful and torturous death.

The issue, upon being raised on social media, triggered outrage, with organisations that battle cruelty to animals taking it up in a big way.

However, on Tuesday, the Noida police, instead of taking action on the alleged dog-killer (who has been identified), put out a string of videos on Twitter where people who claim to have been in the vicinity at the time the incident took place talk about the dog barking and being rabid. The videos are captioned - "Reality check by Noida police, truth behind killing of dog by retired fauji traffic volunteer in public interest, Pl watch video@uppolice."

It is important to note here that irrespective of the justifications provided, the act of killing the stray dog the way the man did is in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

UPDATE: In light of this story being published, Republic TV was approached by the Noida Police which attempted to exonerate itself in the matter on the grounds that the man wasn't officially a part of its rosters and had been employed as a volunteer for a specific purpose. It is up to the viewers to decide whether the Noida Police's justification is sufficient.