Three persons have been booked by the Hathras police for allegedly beating a stray dog to death and then dragging its carcass in the area to "scare away the other canines".
A video of the incident that took place three days ago, was also shared on social media platforms in which a group of people can be seen gathering around the sleeping dog, armed with sticks.
When the dog woke up and started barking, the group attacked it till it fell silent.
Later, two persons tied the dog's legs with a rope and dragged it around the locality.
According to the complainant, Mukesh Chaturvedi, when some people tried to intervene, the group warned them against reporting the incident.
The police initially did not register an FIR and Chaturvedi then approached Lok Sabha MP Maneka Gandhi.
"Since police had not registered an FIR, I wrote about the incident to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, who is an animal welfare activist," Chaturvedi said.
In response to Chaturvedi's mail, Maneka's office informed him that the Superintendent of Police of Hathras had been alerted and an FIR was being filed.
Later, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Prakash Kumar said that the FIR has been registered against three persons, including two unidentified ones, under section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle) and other sections of IPC at Hathras Gate police station on the basis of Chaturvedi's complaint.
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