Camel's harrowing journey ends

A camel standing at south Delhi’s Delhi Cantonment police station attracted curious onlookers after its ‘owner’ was apprehended for commercial exploitation and illegal transportation of an animal.

The teenaged camel ‘owner’, a resident of Ghaziabad who claimed to have bought the animal for Rs 75,000, was taken into custody on the complaint of an activist of NGO People for Animals, police said on Thursday. The camel was later shifted to Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre in west Delhi’s Raja Garden.

The matter was reported to police by People for Animals member Guarav Sharma, who was returning to his Dwarka home from the NGO’s office in Ashoka Road. Guarav told Deccan Herald that he saw two youngsters walking with a camel and an elephant on National Highway-8.
The animals were being ill-treated at a traffic signal at 11.45 pm.

“I told them to stop, but they fled towards Rao Tula Ram Marg,” Gaurav said. Gaurav then made a call to the police control room on which the boy with the camel was apprehended near Subroto Park.

Gaurav and the PCR van staff asked for documents related to the camel, but the teenager failed to produce any. He was only carrying a slip which mentioned the camel’s sale in Rajasthan for Rs 75,000.

No documents
According to police, a certificate from a veterinary doctor must have been carried by the teenager along with water arrangement for the entire journey. “It is also not allowed to transport animals on foot before sunrise and after sunset,” said a police officer.

The boy told police that he was using the camel for entertainment purpose in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The seized camel was being used at melas and weddings. Gaurav, however, confirmed that it amounts to commercial exploitation of the animal. “He should also have obtained a licence from the Animal Welfare Board of India,” Gaurav said.

The camel was taken to Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre for treatment for minor injuries. “It will stay there till a release order is obtained from court,” Gaurav added.

On the basis of Gaurav’s complaint, a case under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was filed with Delhi Cantonment police station. The teenager lives at Garriba Garden in Ghaziabad.