The pet Beagle of an Indian Revenue Service officer, which was stolen by three youths, safely returned to the owner (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: A 26-year-old student and two of his friends have been arrested by the Rachakonda police for stealing a Beagle from the residence of an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer.

The trio was identified as P. Marri Phalguna, 26, of Alkapuri Colony who is pursuing his MBA from a university in the US, P. Uday Kiran of Saroornagar, who is doing his M.Com., and G. Manoj of Mansoorabad, a tele-caller in Dilsukhnagar.

Police said the complainant lives in Rock Town Colony, along with his parents. On August 24, he left his pet Beagle tethered to the grill outside his house when he went to work. Around 11 am, the suspects saw the dog as they were driving past the house. Then drove back, untied the Beagle, put it into their car, and sped away.

The episode was recorded by CCTV cameras installed at the complainant’s house.

Detective sub-inspector T. Avinash Babu of LB Nagar police station, said, “The footage was not clear but upon analysing the feed from other cameras we got the details of the car and tracked down the suspects.”

The Beagle is a common breed in the US, UK and Australia and a rare sight in the city. It is a hunting dog that is often employed by investigating agencies for the detection of prohibited agricultural imports and quarantined foodstuffs around the world. It has a lifespan of about 12 years, and it is very difficult to rear.

The police said that the IRS officer had purchased his dog for nearly Rs 25,000 last year. Phalguna, the chief suspect, stole the dog to keep as a pet, police said. He and his friends were reportedly not aware of the rarity or the value of the Beagle.

Upon returning home with the dog, Phalguna told his parents that he had found it on the road. He purchased a collar and leash for it. “He could have stolen the dog to keep it and not to sell it to someone else,” a police official said.