KOCHI : Pointing to safety concerns at Marine Drive in Kochi, a High Court judge -- on a regular evening stroll along the Abdul Kalam Marg -- faced a potentially dangerous situation recently when an unleashed pet dog moved menacingly towards him and other walkers. The dog’s owner walking without a leash in hand further endangered pedestrians as the canine attempted to attack some of them.
When questioned, the owner responded aggressively, hurling abuses at the judge’s security officer. Subsequently, the security officer filed a complaint before the Ernakulam Central police station which lodged an FIR invoking section 289 (if someone knowingly or negligently fails to take sufficient precautions to prevent a probable danger to human life or grievous harm from an animal in their possession) of IPC.
The incident occurred around 6.45pm on March 5 when Justice P V Kunhikrishnan was on his routine walk. After the dog tried to attack some walkers and people questioned the owner on his move to walk his dog on the walkway without a leash, the owner began abusing them and refused to leash the dog. Later, the dog moved towards the judge. On noticing this, his personal security guard asked the owner to take the pet dog under his control. However, he refused and abused the guard too. The owner also tried to capture the incident on his mobile camera, said the complaint lodged by Kishore A U, the personal security guard of the judge.
The police verified the CCTV footage and identified the person. Subsequently, Aju Joseph of Pathanamthitta was arrested. After interrogation, he was released on bail. If not for his timely intervention, the dog would have attacked the judge and the others walking behind him, Kishore said. “The owner of the dog was not ready to leash the dog when the people questioned him. I too asked him to take the dog away. But he responded rudely. I soon alerted the police because people gathering there in reaction to the issue might affect the security of the judge,” Kishore said.
A police officer said the accused is employed at Infopark.