Gurugram triple murders:Cops probe call records, pet dogs sent to shelter
Police have asked PFA to place the four dogs — three Pugs and one Lhasa Apso — for adoption. The dogs now face an uncertain future, said police.
The four dogs, owned by pharma executive Prakash Singh and his family who were found killed on Monday morning in Uppal Southend residential colony, were taken in by the People For Animals (PFA) on Tuesday and shifted to a shelter home in the city as none of the relatives of the deceased agreed to look after them, police said.
Police have asked PFA to place the four dogs — three Pugs and one Lhasa Apso — for adoption. The dogs now face an uncertain future, said police.
According to police, the dogs were found sitting next to the bodies of the family members after they broke open the house door on Monday morning. Police said they got a call from the office of Maneka Gandhi, an MP and animal rights activist, after the news broke on social media on Monday. A team of PFA visited the police station on Tuesday and took the custody of the dogs and got their medical examination conducted.
Singh, who recently lost his job, allegedly murdered his wife, Sonu Singh (49) and their 14-year-old son Aditya Prakash and 22-year-old daughter Aditi Prakash, before committing suicide on Sunday night, according to police officials.
The three Pugs — Mouli, the eldest, Blue and Pippa, the youngest, and one Lhasa Apso named Lola, were shifted to a neighbour’s house after the incident came to light. “When I took the pets for a walk in the evening, they started to run towards their house and sat outside the main door,” said Kamlesh Kumari, the domestic help of the neighbour who took the pets in on Monday.
Aman Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar), said the dogs were not eating anything and needed help from expert caretakers to recover from the shock. “We got a call from the office of MP Maneka Gandhi about shifting them. We plan to keep these dogs together as they might be able to cope better with the situation,” he said.
Chetna Joshi, an animal welfare activist and PFA representative from Gurugram who is taking care of the dogs, said they were not even sterilised so they needed proper care and protection. “Maneka Gandhi asked me to coordinate with Gurugram police for an urgent transfer of custody of the pets as they were not eating anything and were found to be restless,” she said, adding that Mouli was suffering from joint pains and medicines were given to her.
Anjali Gopalan, a member of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), who is involved in their rehabilitation, said, “Lola and Mouli seem most distressed and traumatised. Both have been crying in their sleep, whereas Pippa and Blue are calmer. The dogs have finally started eating properly and resting well. They have a long journey wherein our goal is to help them come out of the horrible experience.”
Police said friends of Aditi and Aditya had requested that they should be allowed to keep the pets, but they were told to adopt them through proper channel.
Pravin Kora, a certified canine consultant, said, “These are domestic dogs where they lived with four humans with no issue at all. So, they need to be shifted to a foster home, not a shelter home.”
Despite repeated attempts, Maneka Gandhi could not be contacted for a comment.
