10 days after horses fall off highway, cops file an FIR

Jun 25, 2009 . Thu

Mumbai : Ten days after two horses — which were allegedly a part of an illegal horse race — fell off the Andheri flyover, landing on the busy Western Express Highway, the Andheri police has finally registered an First Information Report against the ‘unknown owner’ of the animals. The FIR comes after several follow-ups and a series of investigations by Newsline on the death of the horses.

“The FIR has been filed as per the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960). We have now begun investigation in the case,” said Shivaji Deshmukh, senior police inspector of Andheri police station on Wednesday. According to the investigating officer of the case, police sub-inspector A A Sonawane, “We are trying to trace the owner of the horses who is suspected to reside in Anna Wadi, Sahar. However, neighbours indicate that the owner has left for Nashik, and we are now searching for horse owners across the city to get a clue in the case.”

Sonawane said that the police also traced the tempo which alleged picked up the horses from the spot immediately after the accident and dropped them somewhere near Sahar Gaon. “We have taken the statement of the driver of the tempo. It appears that the tempo was parked nearby when a group of men rushed to the driver and asked him to help pick up two animals. The driver seems to have agreed in goodwill. However, the group took the horses and asked the driver to unload them mid-way at Sahar. By then the driver was too frightened and fled,” Sonawane said.

The two horses were allegedly a part of 10-12 horse-drawn carriages, racing on the Andheri flyover at full speed at around 3 pm on June 14. Onlookers said that the carriage the horses were attached to gave way and flung the two animals down the flyover.

Last Tuesday, Newsline along with a representative of PAWS visited Dharam Sai Nagar, Anna Wadi, the plot near Hotel Leela Kempenski, where the alleged owner lives. Here, we spotted seven horses which according to residents belong to the same owner. On Wednesday, PAWS sent formal complaints, along with photographic evidence and the name of the alleged owner, to the Andheri Police station, the Sahar Police Station and the commissioner of police, asking for action against the owner for letting horses take part in illegal races on the streets of the city. The complaints stated that using animals for public performance without permission is illegal as per the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) and the Performing Animal Rules (1973 and 2001). Action can be initiated as per the Indian Penal Code (1860) and Bombay Police Act (1951) too, it stated.

Horses’ death: no police case yet

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 . Page 3 . News

A day after two horses fell the Andheri flyover to death in broad daylight on Sunday, neither the Andheri police nor the traffic police have registered a case.

When contacted, Shivajirao Gulabrao Deshmukh, senior police inspector at the Andheri police station, said, “Nobody came to us to register an FIR. By the time we reached the spot, bodies of the horses were removed.”

Meanwhile, at the traffic police chowkie that situates near the highway, officials feign ignorance. “It was a Sunday and nobody was in office,” said Shambaji Patil, a constable. “When I got a message on the wireless, I have asked my colleagues to go to the spot. But when they reached there, they found only a horse carriage blocking the traffic on the flyover. Later, a police vehicle came and took away the carriage.”

The horses, which were drawing a carriage on the Andheri flyover, fell off from a height of 10 ft and landed on the busy highway below. It was at 3.30 pm. They died instantly.

Onlookers said the horses were part of a team of 10-12 carriages, race from Borivali to the Bandra-Worli Sealink.

“This is an illegal event that occurs every year. Nearly a dozen carriages were running at high speed on the flyover when the tragedy occurred. However, organizers of the event are so well planned and well connected. The horses’ bodies were picked from the spot within 45 minutes and even the blood was washed off from the road. Despite the tragedy, in the same evening, a bike race was also organized, probably by the same group,” said Manoj Kumar Yadav, an employee in an office that situates near the spot where the accident occurred.

According to Neeta Volve employees, immediately after the incident, a mob of 15 to 20 young men came in bikes along with a yellow Tat tempo. “The two horses were loaded in the tempo and carried away right in front of an RTO constable, who was present there,” a roadside vendor said.

Incidentally, on Sunday evening, the Bombay SPCA received another severely injured horse from the western suburbs. “We picked up the horse from the western suburbs. “We picked up the horse from a place in Andheri after the BMC’s disaster management cell alerted us at 3.45 pm. The animal was brought for the treatment at 5.25 pm,” said Lt. Colonel (Rtd.) J C Khanna of the BSPCA Hospital. The horse had a wound on its left hind leg and was limping terribly when we brought it to the hospital. Our doctors observed that it has respiratory distress and a weak pulse.”

Khanna said the horse was administered with life-saving drugs including pain killers, tetanusoxide and steroids. However, the animal died on Monday morning. Khanna was unsure whether the third horse was also injured during the same carriage race.

Meanwhile, Sunish Subramanian, secretary of Plant & Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) Mumbai, who has taken on the police over several illegal cases of horse racing on the Eastern Express Highway in the past, said, Such illegal races are rampant at various spots across the city on Eastern and Western suburbs. However, whenever we approach the police after noticing such incidents, they take it lightly and never register a complaint. Instead, they threaten us and say we are wasting their time. The police should strict action to stop this atrocity.

Monday, June 15, 2009