A dog was allegedly beaten to death using sticks and rods by a group of people in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, following which the police have launched a probe, an official said on Sunday.
The incident occurred on Friday at Kaithla village located within Patan police station limits and a video of the offence has emerged on social media.
Arvind Garg, a resident of Kaithla, alleged in his complaint that a local panchayat office-bearer and around 10 others attacked his pet dog with sticks and rods, in which the animal died, Patan police station in-charge Surendra Singh said.
"The complainant said he had contested the panchayat election against the panchayat office-bearer and had also lodged a complaint about his illegal possession of government land. He claimed that the killing of his dog was a fallout of that," the official said.
Investigation into the complaint has been launched and legal steps will be taken on the outcome of the probe, he said.
"As per the preliminary probe, the attackers were angry as Garg's pet dog had bitten a family member of the panchayat office-bearer last month. They were also annoyed with the continuous barking by the dog," he said.