Bizarre! Two goats 'arrested' in Telangana, were released after owner paid Rs 1000 penalty

In bizarre news coming in from Telangana, two goats were arrested after an NGO handed them to local police. The goats were grazing on saplings planted by the NGO in Huzurabad town of Karimnagar district. Activists on Tuesday caught the culprits red-handed when they were grazing on saplings.

The activists took the goat to the local police station where they were tied to a pole in the premises until the owner came and paid penalty. Police Inspector Vasamshetty Madhavi told IANS that the goats were released after their owner paid Rs. 1,000 penalty to municipal authorities on Wednesday.

The police took the action after a complaint by ‘Save the Trees’ NGO activists were filed that the goats grazed about 150 saplings planted inside a government-run hospital.

The police later clarified that the goats were not arrested as there is no provision in the Indian Penal Code to arrest or punish animals.

However, this is not the first time when a goat owner had to pay a penalty in order to prevent saplings from being grazed by goats. A goat-rearer was fined Rs. 10,000 after his goats were caught grazing on the saplings planted under 'Haritha Haram', the massive plantation programme taken up by the state government.

In another incident in Sangareddy district, officials imposed a fine of Rs. 3,000 on the owner of the goats which grazed on the saplings in Muttangi village.

The government has started imposing fines on goat owners to prevent illegal grazing and protecting saplings that were planted under plantation drive.

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