Private firm hired by MCG to sterilise animals booked for cheating

Firm neither had any such facility or any permission from the Animal Welfare board of India to carry out such surgeries

A private firm owner was booked for allegedly cheating the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) by producing fake documents and evidence to show that his company carried out animal birth control surgeries across the city. However, it neither had any such facility or any permission from the Animal Welfare board of India (AWBI) to carry out such operations, police officers aware of the matter said on Monday.

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The firm, which has its unit in Basai, got MCG tender in May 2020. However, after complaints and inspection reports of AWBI that accused the firm of indulging in irregularities, its tender was cancelled on January 1, 2021.

Investigators said that AWBI waited for the government authorities to take action against the firm, but no development took place. It filed a complaint through one of its members, Chetna Joshi, in the court in 2021. Following this, the court ordered a thorough police investigation against the firm.

Joshi alleged that even before the tendering process, AWBI intimated MCG multiple times to follow the norms laid down by the Supreme Court. It also informed the civic body that the hired firm was incompetent and not authorised to carry out animal birth control work.

“However, MCG didn’t take any action in the initial stage. We later moved the court. The firm was charging MCG just ₹635 per surgery, whereas a minimum of ₹1,500 is required to keep and feed dogs and other animals at the centre to heal after surgery for at least four days,” Joshi said.

On the basis of the court order issued on December 1, a first information report (FIR) was registered against the firm owner under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code at Gurugram Sadar police station on Friday night, said police.

Police said that the matter came to light after AWBI conducted a surprise inspection at the Basai animal birth control centre on October 5, 2020. It found that all the surgical instruments were rusted and there was no operation table or other equipment at the spot to carry out birth control procedures. Meanwhile, it also surfaced that the firm only had MCG’s permission to run an animal shelter. However, it projected itself as having the expertise to carry out birth control surgeries to win the contract.

Investigators said AWBI also found that the firm must have possibly conducted surgeries on some dogs and preserved their organs. It allegedly showed those same organs multiple times to the authorities as evidence of surgeries and charged the civic body accordingly.

Inspector Subhash Chand, station house officer of Gurugram Sadar police station, said that they will soon serve notice to the complainant to submit all documents for investigation, and the owner to join the probe. “We will take action against the firm owner,” he said.

A senior MCG official, who did not want to be named, said that the firm was no longer associated with them. “If there is any specific court order, then we will comply with it,” he added.