Navy men turn goons in 'stray' case

Bringing home an injured stray dog to give him some medical treatment proved horrific for a 45-year-old woman. Some navy cadets allegedly barged into her Dadar house, pushed her 80-year-old mother and forcibly took away the animal.

Lata Anklekar, a resident of Dadar area who works with the Animal Welfare Board, approached the Dadar police to lodge a complaint but only a non-cognisable (NC) offence was registered in the case. Disappointed, she approached the zonal deputy commissioner of police and submitted a written complaint but till date no FIR was registered in the case.

According to the complaint (a copy of which is with dna), Anklekar found an injured Labrador near her society. She then enquired about its owner and but could not trace the owner. Then she decided to take the animal home and treat him.

However, a couple of days later two men came to Anklekar's house and claimed that the dog belonged to them. "All I asked the men was to show any document which proved what they were saying. The men said they did not have any such evidence following which I refused to hand over the dog to them. Later I found out that the dog had been roaming in the area for the past three months. I spotted him only on May 28 as he was injured and howling," said Anklekar.

The navy men left on that day only to return on June 1 at around 8.15pm.
Anklekar had just returned from work and was taking bath. Her mother opened the door.

"As soon as my mother opened the door the navy men barged in. They pushed my mother and she fell on the ground, hurting herself. The men then took away the dog and left the house," Anklekar added. Soon after the incident, Anklekar rushed to Dadar police station following which she met the deputy commissioner of police Dhananjay Kulkarni and filed a written complaint.

"We are investigating the case. We are trying to find out whether the men were really from the navy or were lying. We have registered an NC in the case and the complainant's mother did not sustain any injuries," Kulkarni said.

When contacted, defence PRO Narendra Vispute said, "I am not aware about this incident but I will try to find out what exactly had happened."