Patrolling and tracking teams on toes but canines continue to lurk and grab their prey

The Sitapur district and police administration have been on their toes since Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered that the Khairabad dog attacks have to be reined in at the earliest. There is pressure from villagers too. But the attacks, that killed 6-7 children since May 1 and injured over two dozen, are continuing. The last attack was on Thursday, when two kids were mauled.

The Sitapur administration has constituted 13 teams – nine patrolling and four tracking -- comprising cops, civic and forest officials to hunt down the dogs as the terror has spread to a stretch of over 14-15 kms. Four ambulances are on high alert and 12 emergency response vehicles on standby to respond to SOS calls.

The state police chief has also reached out to the National Disaster Management Agency for help. According to DGP OP Singh, a team has been sent from Lucknow with two drone cameras for surveillance in Khairabad. Footage from the cameras has confirmed the presence of killer canines in the villages. But there is virtually no mapping of the spots where the dogs lurk and grab prey suddenly and silently.

The villagers, sulking over alleged administrative inaction, have taken the onus on themselves to comb thickets and kill the animals. SP Sitapur claims that UP-dial 100 vehicles have been on high alert with directives to attend to every call.

After the CM’s intervention, Sujeet Kumar Pandey, the Inspector General of Police of Lucknow range, visited Khairabad. An advisory has been issued against letting children foray into mango orchards and other places alone.

“As attacks are usually reported during the wee hours, night vision binoculars are being made available to the patrolling teams,” said Pandey. “Committees have been set up in villages to fight this menace and raise awareness.”

Witnesses and police officials claim the breed of attacking dogs is different from normal stray dogs. But after visiting affected villages, SSP Sitapur Anand Kulkarni said he found similarities in the nature of the attacks.

A witness said the killer dogs were stronger than strays. “They look more like wolves. They isolate children and pull them down.” The dogs first attack the prey on the neck and then focus on the face, skull, legs, thighs and abdomen, eating almost the entire body, he added. Sitapur city magistrate Harsh Dev Pandey has assured the villagers that the teams will continue combing operations until the ‘killer’ dogs are trapped.

Special teams of dog catchers from Mathura and Lucknow, after camping in Khairabad for a week and catching around 33 dogs, have returned. These dogs have been brought to Lucknow for sterilisation and will be sent back to Khairabad as the forest department has refused to relocate them to Pilibhit Tiger Reserve as per the plan of the Sitapur district administration.