Preteen Bengaluru boy attacked by stray dogs; 3 BBMP officials arrested

• Arrests consequent to victim’s mother filing a complaint alleging negligence of duty

Bengaluru: After a 11-year-old boy was attacked by a pack of stray dogs in Vibhutipura, near KR Puram, two Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials were arrested by HAL police on Friday in connection to the incident that took place on Wednesday. 

Sriram, assistant director of Mahadevapura Zone, Arun Mutalik Desai, a senior inspector of the Animal Husbandry Department of the BBMP, and Ravishankar, a BBMP contractor, were arrested for alleged negligence that led to the incident.

Incident

On August 29, after leaving the school, the class 6 student identified as Praveen, his elder brother and another boy were playing near the Vibhutipura lake when the dogs chased them. While two of the boys managed to escape, Praveen ran towards the lake area, but the dogs attacked and bit him. The boy sustained several injuries, including damage to his food pipe. “He is in hospital and his condition is critical,” said the police.

“He was rescued by a security guard. Doctors claim the next four days are critical,” informed Praveen’s maternal uncle. After being administered first aid at a government hospital, the boy was rushed to Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road.

The aftermath

Praveen’s mother, Murugamma, filed a complaint with the police which registered an FIR. In her statement, Murugamma accused BBMP of being lax in attending to the problem of stray dogs in her neighbourhood.

Consequently, the police booked the three civic officials under Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) and Section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).