The men who filmed themselves throwing a dog off the terrace in Chennai, were identified on Tuesday and a First Information Report (FIR) registered against them. Their video, which was shot on WhatsApp and uploaded on Facebook, had gone viral on social media on Monday, leaving animal lovers aghast.

The alleged culprits have been identified as Ashish Paul, who recorded the video, and Gautam Sudharshan, who flung the dog off the terrace of a three storey apartment where they reside. Both of them final year students studying MBBS at Madha College, Chennai. They were identified by Krishnan along with Anthony Rubin , an Animal Welfare Officer, and Jennifer Jacob Anand, who also took pictures of the terrace where the incident took place.

Shravan Krishnan, an animal lover and rescuer, said that they got leads about the alleged culprits around 6.30 pm on Monday but wanted to be sure. “We went to Kundrathur police station under whose jurisdiction the College is located and registered an FIR under Section 429 of IPC and Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act and then gathered information about both the men and went to their rented apartment located around three kilometers from the college,” he said. But by that time Ashish and Gautam had already got a wind of the situation and were on the run. Their whereabouts have still not been traced.

“We are also going to request the college to expel both of them as how can people trust them as doctors if they have shown so much cruelty,” said Krishnan “We have no information about the dog whether survived or not but we are asking around,” said Krishnan, adding that both these men deserve stringent punishment for their heinous crime.

According to the activists, the video was taken around two weeks ago and then shared on social media, going went viral on Monday. The video was shared by people across the country, asking everyone to try and find the identify the culprits, so they could be punished.

The trio praised the Chennai police for its quick response and swift action. They have also demanded that an arrest warrant be issued by Tuesday evening if the culprits do not surrender.