A horse deployed as part of the mounted police was injured during a protest march by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) to the Uttarakhand state assembly in Dehradun on Monday.
The ruling Congress has alleged that the horse sustained injuries after being attacked by BJP’s Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi. BJP has denied the charges.
The incident happened during BJP’s march against ‘corruption and poor law and order’ to the state assembly which was stopped at barricades put up by Uttarakhand police near Ripsana bridge, a few metres from the state assembly premises.
Hours after the incident, two videos, one of them purportedly showing the horse’s broken hind leg and the other showing the BJP legislator from Mussoorie attacking the horse with a lathi from the front went viral.
A case has been registered against MLA Joshi.
Case has been registered against MLA Joshi and others. It can be seen in the video footage that the horse was hit by the MLASadanand Date, SSP, Dehradun
Meanwhile, the MLA issued a denial of being involved in the attack.
State to Bear Expense of Horses Treatment, Says CM Rawat
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has enquired about the health of horse. He has also directed the police to take special assistance from hospitals in Tamil Nadu for treatment of horse if needed.
All the expenses for the treatment of horse will be borne by state government.Harish Rawat, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand
Rawat’s media in-charge Surendra Kumar has alleged that the animal had “fallen a victim to Joshi’s cruelty”.
BJP spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan denied the charge claiming that the horse had got injured after one of its legs got stuck in a pothole. State BJP President Ajay Bhatt said he had not seen the videos and would not able to comment on the circumstances that may have led to injuries to the horse.
(With Agency Inputs)
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