Date:25/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/25/stories/2008112560700300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Hunting trick rebounds on dog owner

Staff Reporter

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Looking for clues: Police with sniffer dog squad inspecting the spot where the dog died, near Thimmaiah’s house in Rajagopalanagar on Monday.

BANGALORE: A dog bit off more than it could chew when it helped itself to ragi mudde in which an explosive substance was embedded on Monday morning at Rajagopalanagar.

The dog, Kenda, died on the spot, and in connection with the incident, the police raided the house of Thimmappa, the pet owner residing near Mathrushri Kalyana Mantap at Sanjeevini Nagar near Laggere and recovered gun powder, nylon nets and other materials.

The police said Thimmappa had hidden the explosive material inside ragi mudde to hunt rabbits and squirrels in that area. He was a small-time hunter and used to hunt pigs, squirrels, fox, mongooses, monkey and other small animals in and around Laggere, Sanjeevini Nagar, Peenya, Nelamangala, Dobbspet, Hesaraghatta and in the surroundings of Tumkur and the exploding ragi mudde was one of his tricks.

“Around 8 a.m. Thimmappa had kept one such ragi mudde near the Mathrushri Kalyana Mantap but it was his dog that bit it and died,” said an officer of Rajagopala Nagar police station. “The explosion caused panic among residents of the area and police came to the spot. The canines from the Bangalore City Dog Squad solved the mystery by leading us to Thimmappa’s house,” a police official told The Hindu.

Thimmappa is absconding and a case has been registered under the Indian Explosives Act 1884.

According to Meenakshammal, Thimmappa’s neighbour, the dead dog was no less a hunter than the owner. Apparently he had helped himself to over 60 poultry birds in the area, much to the community’s ire.