Case against Sena workers for placing dogs on official's desk over stray menace
Police in Maharashtra's Nashik district have registered a case against a Shiv Sena (UBT) activist and his associates after they entered a municipal official's chamber and released two puppies from sacks onto his desk during a protest over the stray dog problem, officials said.
The incident, which was captured on video and later went viral on social media, also drew a response from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, who said he was disturbed by the way the puppies were handled, even as he said the protesters were right to raise the issue of civic inaction.
According to an official from Niphad police station, a case has been registered against Vikram Randhave and others for obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his duty. A case related to animal cruelty has also been filed because the puppies were brought in sacks.
Police said Randhave, a district youth wing functionary, led a group of Yuva Sena (UBT) activists into the office of Dheeraj Bhamre, Chief Officer of the Niphad Nagar Panchayat. In the video, Randhave is seen taking the two puppies out of sacks and placing them on the official's desk. He is heard telling Bhamre, "We have been trying to highlight the stray dog menace to you for the last six months, but you ignored our pleas." It was not clear whether his party supported the protest.
The official told the protesters that the civic body had already issued work tenders to address the issue, but this did not calm Randhave. He warned of more demonstrations and said, "If you fail to act, we will bring more dogs to your office next time, along with children and women affected by the problem." He also placed a garland made of currency notes on the official's desk to protest against the civic administration's alleged inaction.
Randhave claimed that more than 400 stray dogs were roaming within the Nagar Panchayat limits and that over 100 residents were suffering dog bites every month. He said this had become a serious threat to children, senior citizens and motorists, especially during the ongoing Ganesh festival. No arrests have been made so far, the police official said.
In a post on X, former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray said, "There's a video that I came across by one of the Yuva Sena office bearers from Niphad who has protested against 470+ dog bites in the city, in the past 5 months, and the inaction of the civic authorities." He added, "While one may question the inaction of the civic authorities to curb the dog bites and to shift the dogs to proper shelters with proper care, the protest should NOT have had the dogs being handled in such a manner." Thackeray said he had asked the office-bearer to apologise and not hold protests in this manner, and that the office-bearer had apologised and promised not to repeat it. The case now centres on both the disruption inside the civic office and the handling of the puppies during the protest.- EndsWith PTI inputsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 17, 2026 23:47 IST
