Labrador snatched from retired wing commander in Gurgaon found

Hobbes was found from a house at Begampur Khatola village

Nine-year-old Hobbes, the Labrador retriever, snatched from a retired wing commander on Tuesday evening was found on Saturday from a house at Begampur Khatola village, 10 kilometres away from where it was snatched.

Hobbes was reunited with his family on Saturday. (HT Photo)

Retired air force officer BR Mehta, 82, was walking Hobbes in a park outside the Vatika City housing society in sector 49 on Tuesday evening when a man, in his early twenties, approached and snatched the dog from him.

The family had distributed handouts manually and online for searching the snatched dog. On Saturday, the family received an anonymous call giving information about the dog. The caller, however, sought anonymity and also declined to claim any reward.

“The caller gave us directions that led us to the house. The house owner showed us the labrador tied on the terrace,” said Shailen Chawla, son-in-law of Mehta. The house owner told Chawla that his tempo driver brought the dog to him on Wednesday morning. The driver told the house owner that he found the dog somewhere and would take it away after a few days.

Chawla said the driver certainly is not the snatcher as he is in mid-forties, while the snatcher was much younger. “We are happy to be reunited with Hobbes, but will make all efforts to identify and trace the snatcher,” he said.

In April last year, a family in DLF Phase-3 area had launched an online campaign and announced reward of Rs 5,000 that was later increased to Rs 10,000 for finding its pet Thumki, a female Indian breed dog. The dog was found after 33 days of going missing by a dog lover at the Central park, Golf Course road.