'Police officer' Shaktiman dies; Maneka Gandhi says culprits should be arrested

New Delhi: Reacting to police horse Shaktiman's death, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday said that the culprits should be arrested for killing a police officer.

Expressing anger over the horse's death, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told news agency ANI, “Shaktimaan was a police officer on duty and went through so much pain which ultimately killed him.”

She opined that horses should no longer be part of police systems.

“They (Horses) serve no purpose. In every crowd engagement they are at mercy of any vicious person who is too cowardly to do anything but injure a defenceless animal,” the Union Minister asserted.

The horse 'Shaktiman', which suffered multiple fractures on its hind leg during a BJP protest in Dehradun last month died today.

The horse had lost its leg after it was brutally beaten during clashes between BJP protesters and the police on March 14.

BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi, the legislator from Mussoorie, accused of assaulting Shaktiman, was arrested after national outrage over the incident.

Joshi was seen trying to hit the horse with a stick and was also accused of breaking its leg. He has, however, maintained his innocence claiming he was just trying to scare the animal.

Animal rights activists reacted sharply and asked the government to take action against the accused BJP leader, Ganesh Joshi.