Mathura (UP): A video clip of an officer allegedly carrying his dog and two kittens in his official car has gone viral on social media. In the aftermath of the incident, district magistrate of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Pulkit Khare, has ordered an inquiry into it, official sources said on Saturday. When a journalist was making the video clip of the officer carrying his pets in a government vehicle, an altercation took place between the two on Thursday.
In the video clip, assistant municipal commissioner of Mathura-Vrindavan Municipal Corporation Rajkumar Mittal was seen scolding journalist Deepak Choudhary who was taking his pictures. Choudhary said if the officer could carry his dog in the vehicle, he had every reason to take a picture. As this led to further arguments between the two, other journalists intervened and the officer went away. The officer and the journalist filed a complaint at the police station against each other.
Khare formed a two-member committee to investigate the incident and sought a report within three days. A team of journalists also met Khare and informed him about what had happened. According to Mittal, he had taken an adopted dog and two kittens and he was taking them to a veterinary doctor for vaccination.
On his way to home, a man began to take pictures, and, when he tried to stop the man, he started running away, but he caught hold of the person, Mittal said.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) took the ruling Bharatiya Janata to task over the incident. The SP, which is in opposition in UP, shared the picture on its tweeter with a caption that reads: “Yogiji! Send someone from Lucknow who walks the dog of this sir (Sahab) and clean his dog’s stool…” “Otherwise your officers are busy walking the dogs while leaving the administrative work.”
The tweeter further said, “This negligence and hooliganism of a government official at sensitive and global tourist destination like Vrindavan is unforgivable.” The district magistrate’s order for a probe has not quelled the angry journalists who wanted immediate action against the official concerned, sources further said.
