Dehradun: Amid the continuing outrage over injury to a police horse in an “attack” by a BJP MLA, the animal on Tuesday underwent a surgical procedure to fix one of its hind legs after which authorities said no amputation was required.
The ghastly attack on the beast during a protest on Monday saw the ruling Congress and main opposition BJP locked in a verbal clash in the Uttarakhand assembly even as people poured their wrath on Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi for showing cruelty to the animal.
Police have registered a case against Joshi and his supporters under Cruelty to Animals Act in connection with the incident, while several animal rights activists including Puja Bahukhandi have also lodged a police complaint against the MLA for his “inhuman” act.
13-year-old Shaktiman was operated upon by a team of doctors from Pantnagar Veterinary College after which Senior Superintendent of Police Sadanand Date said that the injury was fixed and no amputation was required.
There was speculation that the leg of the horse might need to be sawed off.The attack on the horse of Uttarakhand Mounted Police occurred near Rispana bridge during a protest march by the BJP to the state assembly against “rising corruption and collapse of law and order”.
When intercepted near the bridge, the BJP workers tried to jump over the barricades prompting security personnel, including the mounted police, to swing into action to control the protesters. This enraged Joshi who began “hitting” the horse , fracturing one of its hind legs.
The equine was the cynosure of all eyes with Chief Minister Harish Rawat visiting the stable located at the police lines to inquire about its condition.
“A look at the horse shows the excruciating pain the animal is undergoing. A political party should not vent its frustration on a hapless animal in this manner. Political workers must learn the value of restraint and tolerance. It seems the word tolerance does not exist in the BJP’s dictionary,” Rawat said. Ganesh Joshi also visited the police lines stable.
Claiming that he had not inflicted injury on the horse, Joshi in a statement said that the animal went out of control during the protests and one of its hind legs got stuck in a hole dug to put up the barricades which led to injuries.
He accused the government of hatching a conspiracy to “malign” the BJP and deflect public attention from its own failures. On the video being circulated on the social media showing him attacking the horse with a stick, Joshi said he was only trying to scare away the animal which had gone berserk, leaving a BJP worker badly injured.