Kids would peep in, ask how’s Shaktiman… now he’s gone

WATCH: Shaktiman, Police Horse Injured At BJP Rally In Dehradun, Dies

Also read | Shaktiman is a rare horse, and there is more than one reason for it

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat was an early visitor and BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi, who allegedly hit Shaktiman at a rally on March 14 causing multiple fractures, came later and, in an ironic twist, promised to name a park after Shaktiman with a memorial dedicated to him.

VIDEO: Shaktiman, Police Horse Injured At BJP Rally In Dehradun, Dies

“If we come to power, then we will name a park after him. I am very saddened at Shaktiman’s death but I am not responsible for it. The videos that showed me hitting him were doctored. If I am found even one per cent guilty of hurting him, then my leg should be cut off,” said Joshi, who was arrested last month after an FIR was registered against him.

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“I have animals at home, my daughter has visited Shaktiman every day since the accident. People should not play politics over the body of an animal but then in Congress’s history, they have killed even their own family members… toh ek bezubaan jaanwar kya cheez hai (so what’s a helpless animal to them),” he said.

Joshi then turned the question of his role in causing Shaktiman’s death to questioning the Uttarakhand government on what steps they had taken after the accident to provide protective gear to horses of the Mounted Police. “The UP government has taken steps to give their police horses protective gear like leg guards but what has Uttarakhand done? My daughter has also written to the state’s DGP on this issue,” he said.

Harish Rawat, meanwhile, called Shaktiman “a brave soldier of Uttarakhand” who died while performing his duty. “I am shocked. We all thought Shaktiman was recovering well,” he said.

Also read | ‘Shaktiman’ was an officer on duty, arrest the person responsible for his death: Maneka Gandhi

The cause of death, IG Garhwal Sanjay Gunjyal said, was due to medical complications but the exact cause will known after the results of the post-mortem examination. SSP Sadanand Date, meanwhile, said the horse was given anaesthesia before his dressing but didn’t wake up after the shot was administered to him.

Shaktiman, whose left leg was amputated after he was injured last month was only recently fitted with a prosthetic limb that had come all the way from the United States and the team attending him had been hopeful of his recovery. Jamie Vaughan, who was attending to Shaktiman and was responsible for getting the prosthetic leg, said, “I don’t know what to say. He was as well as he was on any other day and he just collapsed.”

WATCH VIDEO: Police Horse Shaktiman’s Memorial Statue Built

The policemen who looked after 14-year-old Shaktiman too are trying to come to terms with his death. After the visitors had left and the cameras switched off, they stood in a huddle outside his stable, looking at the flickering diya under which lies Shaktiman.

“None of us looking after Shaktiman have slept for more than three hours at a stretch this past month. Every day, children passing by would peep in and ask how Shaktiman was. And now he is gone,” said Constable Ravinder who was riding Shaktiman the day he was attacked and injured. Today was the end of their partnership.

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