Six people, who were arrested on Tuesday for riding horses on the Western Express Highway and whipping them mercilessly, were granted bail by an Andheri court on Wednesday evening.
A police patrol vehicle on the Western Express Highway saw the accused hitting the horses. Sub-inspector Sambhaji Thorat from the Vile Parle police station said, “The team asked them to stop, but they did not. They were then arrested.”
Six horses tethered to three carts were rescued. “The horses were in very bad shape. They were bleeding, frothing at the mouth, and had cane marks on their backs,” Mr. Thorat said.
The accused were produced in the metropolitan magistrate’s court in Andheri on Wednesday. Mr. Thorat said they had sought police custody to find out if they were racing horses on the highway, but the six accused were remanded in judicial custody till Sunday. They were granted cash bail in the evening. The horses have been sent to an animal care centre in Malad (West).
The police said the accused hailed from Kashimira and were riding towards the city. They were booked under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 119 (punishment for cruelty to animals) of the Maharashtra Police Act and Section 11 (1) (a) (beats, kicks, over-rides, over-drives, over-loads, tortures or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain and suffering) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
