Carcasses of dogs lying near Madurantakam in Kanchipuram district on Sunday. (DC)

CHENNAI: In a bizarre incident, an unidentified gang of robbers may have poisoned 20 dogs to death near Madurantakam in Kanchipuram district on Saturday night. The police are on a hunt to nab the suspects.

Residents living in Karasangal, Orathi and Anaikattu near Madurantakam, about 60 kms from the city, woke up on Sunday morning to find their dogs dead.

Shocked, the residents alerted Orathi police personnel, who rushed to the spot and held enquiries with the villagers who had gathered near the ‘dead’ dogs even as tension began gripping the locality.

Residents lamented that of their 20 dogs, only three dogs had been left battling for life and they too soon succumbed while they were being taken to a nearby veterinary hospital.

Residents of Madurantakam and adjoining villages had started rearing livestock such as cows, goats and chicken for their livelihood a few years ago. They had switched to livestock business from agriculture as there had been very little rain in the area in the last few years.

“Our villages have been witnessing theft of livestock by some miscreants from a couple of years ago. Despite repeated complaints to the police station, the police officials showed reluctance in nabbing the accused, perhaps because what was stolen was just ‘livestock’ to them,” said Shankar (34), a villager.

The villagers decided in a meeting to rear dogs in all the households to protect their livestock from being stolen.

“The rearing of dogs served us well as our villages did not witness theft of livestock for the last six months and we heaved a sigh of relief as these dogs were providing security. The dogs would bark during night if someone intruded into the villages,” said Dhanalakshmi (48).

Sensing this, the thieves had hatched a plot to kill the dogs, which had been a hindrance to their business. Police suspected that such offenders had stolen livestock to make a quick buck by selling them in the markets.

“Since Deepavali festival is round the corner, the robbers may have wanted more money within a short span of time. The gang might have been keeping a watch on these villages and subsequently placed meat mixed with poison on Saturday night, which attracted the dogs and resulted in their deaths,” said a police

official. The Orathi police station registered a complaint and assured the villagers they would catch the accused.