No serious effort made by police to trace 2 stray dogs missing from IGI airport: Delhi court

A Delhi court recently pulled up the police over serious lapses in the investigation into the disappearance of two community dogs from Indira Gandhi International Airport. [Rashim Sharma v. GMR Airports Limited]

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Pranav Joshi of Patiala House Courts, by an order dated April 29, directed the Joint Commissioner of Police (Transport Range) to conduct a fresh and comprehensive investigation into the incidents and submit a report.

The Court came down sharply on the investigation, saying that senior police officials had failed to carry out a proper inquiry despite earlier directions to examine linked incidents across terminals.

“It is quite unfortunate that DCP, IGI Airport has not apply its mind to the facts and no steps were taken to enquired the incidents in holistic manner. Further, the approach of the inquiry officer to does not suggest that he wanted to go to the root of the matter,” held the court.

On the delay, the Court observed that more than one and a half months had passed since the dogs were removed, yet there was no clarity on whether they were alive or where they had been taken.

“It has been more than one and half month since the dogs were relocated from their usually feeding area and the police has shown no interest to gather information whether the dogs are alive and their place of relocation. It is also apparent from the said report that inquiry officer shown no interest to gather information about the reason of relocation of the dogs from the respondents as no names of the persons who were examined from DIAL are mentioned," the order said.

The case arose from a complaint alleging that two community dogs, Kaddu and Brownie, were illegally picked up from Delhi's International Airport in March and April 2026.

According to the police status report, CCTV footage from Terminal 3 showed a person linked to a contractor luring a dog into a vehicle and taking it out of the airport. However, the police have not been able to establish where the dogs were taken or whether they are alive.

The case also involves a separate but related incident at Terminal 1, where viral footage circulated on social media allegedly showed a dog being captured in an inhumane manner.

The Court noted that in an earlier order passed on April 20, it had directed the police to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into incidents at both Terminal 3 and Terminal 1 after noting that the two incidents could be linked. It had also ordered preservation of CCTV footage from both locations.

Despite these directions, the police allegedly treated the two terminal incidents as unrelated and failed to carry out a coordinated investigation.

The Court further observed that the investigating officer failed to examine key officials or contractors involved in the alleged relocation. Instead, the focus of the inquiry was placed on the complainants, who were asked to answer a detailed questionnaire and establish their role as feeders.

The Court found that no meaningful effort was made to ascertain the circumstances in which the dogs were removed.

“This approach of the police reflects their apathy towards the noble cause for which the complaint has been made,” held the Court.

The Court also pointed out inconsistencies in the efforts made by the police. It noted that relevant information regarding the dogs’ care and status had been produced before the court within a short span, while the police failed to obtain the same despite repeated follow-ups by the complainants.

“This court wonders when this information could be gathered by this court in one week, why the police have failed to obtain the same when the complainants have visited the police officers at least 15 times,” the Court said.

The matter is listed for further hearing on May 11.

Advocate Manish Gandhi appeared on behalf of the complainant.

[Read Order]