Bareilly, 27 November (Agency)The post-mortem of a rat, which was drowned on Friday in Sadar Kotwali area of Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh, was conducted at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly on Saturday. Scientist Dr. Ashok Kumar in IVR did the postmortem of the dead body of the rat. Officer-in-charge of the post-mortem department, Dr. Pawan Kumar said on Sunday that the post-mortem of the rat has been done and the report will be submitted in the next four-five days. Chief Veterinary Officer Dr AK Jadaun said that such killing of rats comes under the Animal Cruelty Act. Inspector in-charge of Badaun Kotwali Harpal Singh told that further action will be taken after the post mortem report of the rat comes. It is noteworthy that animal lover Vikendra Sharma had seen a person named Manoj Kumar throwing a rat into a drain after tying a stone to its tail near Badaun’s power sub-station on Friday. When a complaint was filed on behalf of Vikendra under the Animal Cruelty Act in Badaun police station for brutally killing the rat, the police called Manoj to the police station and interrogated him.
On Vikendra’s Tahrir, Sadar Kotwali police sealed the rat’s body and sent it to Badaun’s veterinary hospital, but the staff there refused to do postmortem due to lack of resources. After this, the dead rat’s body was sent to IVRI, Bareilly for postmortem. Badaun Nagar’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Alok Mishra said that a complaint was received about killing a rat by drowning it in a drain, on which the accused Manoj Kumar was called to the police station and interrogated while taking immediate action. He said that legal action will be taken against the accused after the post mortem report is received. However, the Deputy Superintendent of Police clarified that the rat does not come under the category of animal, hence the Animal Cruelty Act would not apply.
