India: Bhopal man arrested for throwing dog into lake in viral video

The accused, Salman Khan, has reportedly claimed he was drunk during the act

A man in the Indian city of Bhopal was arrested on September 13 after a video of him throwing a dog into a lake was posted online, angering social media users and animal rights activists.

A case was registered against him after a group of people lodged a complaint with Bhopal Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police Irshad Wali.

The incident took place along Bhopal’s VIP road, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where the man threw a stray dog in the Bhojtal Lake, formerly known as the Upper Lake, while shooting a video for social media.

In the viral clip, the accused, is seen standing on the sidewalk besides the lake at night as he picks up one of two dogs walking around him and throws it into the lake while giggling at the camera. A song from the Hindi movie Commando 3 can be heard in the background of the video.

Soon after the video was uploaded on the internet, the man, identified as Salman Khan, a native of Qazi camp area in Old Bhopal, received backlash from outraged netizens who slammed him for the “cruel” act.

Twitter user @ankitagupta102 posted: “This is [a] very disturbing #viralvideo, a man is seen throwing a stray dog from a bridge several feet down into a #Bhopal lake and then smiling for the camera. After a complaint from an animal rights group, the local police have registered a case against the accused. #Deathofahumanity”

Sharing an update on the case, tweep @bherycool wrote: “Police took quick action against the accused who threw the dog into the pond, Salman Sagir, age 25, against the resident of Kabarkhana Hanumanganj, Section 429... Accused Salman has been arrested by registering a case under section 11 #bhopal”

According to Indian media reports, soon after the act, a lawyer, Rishi Kumar, uploaded an audio clip of a phone call with Khan, in which he said that he was drunk during the act. He also claimed to have jumped into the water later to save the dog, and promised to upload an apology on social media with a video clip to prove his claim.