Armyman vs cop in dog bite case: Goa police claim victim’s ‘nervousness’ to blame

“The accused did not command his dogs to ‘heel’ or stop, nor did he intervene to stop the attack. Instead, after the incident, [he] called his dogs and walked away,” the complaint read. He also alleged that subsequently, when he filed a complaint at Fatorda police station, the police tried to “suppress the case” and that there was a “deliberate attempt to protect the accused who is a senior police officer”. It was at this that he approached the commission.

Furtado had earlier filed a complaint with South Goa police demanding an FIR be registered against Silva and a “written apology” from the police officer for his “negligence and failure to handle his dogs correctly”. The complainant had enclosed a medical report of treatment for a “grade 3 dog bite”.

In a reply filed on Thursday by the Fatorda police station inspector, it was mentioned that a police inquiry dated November 13, 2020 concluded that the “incident occurred unknowingly and there was no intention on part of SP Silva to cause the incident”.

“In the course of inquiry, SP Bossuet Silva, on questioning regarding the dog which was unleashed, informed that it was within 50 metres of its place of stay, which was familiar territory to the animal. The alleged incident occurred on account of nervousness shown by the complainant [Furtado] as he approached the dog, which led to bruise, and there was no dog bite…,” the police said.

The police’s reply also said that it was “laid down under the relevant provision of Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act 1960 that no animal shall be confined. As such, leashing of the dog in territory which is familiar to it, would amount [to] cruelty to the animal…in these circumstances, no cognizable offence is made out.”

The reply said that from a perusal of records and photographs enclosed by the complainant, it seemed that the complainant received scratches bruises that may have been caused by the “nails of the dog and not a dog bite”.

Police said in the reply that after the inquiry in November 2020, they received numerous petitions filed before various authorities, including the chief minister’s office. “The complainant was requested to attend the inquiry, instead, the complainant was pressing for a written apology, which reveals that the complainant is not interested in inquiry, but to obtain written apology…,” the reply said.

SP Silva, who currently has the charge of anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Goa Police, declined to comment on the allegations in the complaint. The matter has been adjourned for hearing on March 19.

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