‘Puppy-killer’ held from Lucknow

The “dog killer” who was spotted slaughtering puppies outside Green Park Metro station a month ago was arrested by the Delhi police from Lucknow on Saturday.

The man has been identified as a 28-year-old engineer, Nakul Mishra, who suffers from prolonged depression. He was arrested from his home in Lucknow by a special police team of the Delhi police.

The accused, who had done his bachelors in engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Delhi, has been on medication for prolonged depression. He was jobless for the past several months, had a failed relationship and his own pet dog had died recently, a senior police official said.

“The man was undergoing medical treatment for the past several months. His parents have shown several documents of his ongoing treatment for depression,” said a police official.

The accused was arrested on Friday evening from his home in Lucknow and brought to Delhi on transit remand. He has been booked on charges of mischief by killing or maiming animal or cattle and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the official said.

“He was taken to AIIMS for medical examination from where he was referred to a medical board,” he added. “To identify the accused, several police teams conducted door-to-door searches in all localities under the jurisdiction of Hauz Khas sub-division of the Delhi police. We scanned thousands of tenant verification forms to identify the accused. After we got the clue about the accused, we tracked him and arrested him from his home in Lucknow,” additional DCP of south district Nupur Prasad said.

“It emerged that he left his rented room in south Delhi’s Yusuf Sarai area after the incident and shifted to his maternal aunt’s residence in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar where he stayed for around three days before leaving for his home in Lucknow,” she said.

The police has also recovered the knife used in the crime from the possession of the accused.

On March 17, bodies of three puppies were found outside Green Park Metro station. An NGO working for animal rights had also announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information about the “dog killer”. The NGO, Fauna Police, claimed it had assisted the police to identify the accused.