Shaktimaan, the injured police horse passes away; Tributes pour in on Twitter

Dehradun, April 20: Shaktimaan, the 13-year-old horse who was badly injured in Uttarakhand last month, succumbed to injuries on Wednesday, April 20 evening.

'Shaktiman', a police horse was allegedly beaten by BJP's Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi during a protest march held in Dehradun on March 14. Shaktiman's leg had to be amputated later. A few days back, a US expert fixed the horse with a prosthetic leg.

After the fatal injury, Shaktimaan underwent an emergency life-saving surgery that went on for at least 5 hours by a special team of ten veterinary doctors (six from Pantnagar and four district veterinary officers).

'Shaktiman', a well trained horse was a part of Uttarakhand Mounted Police for years.

Few days back, it was reported that Shaktimaan will be able to stand on its own withing 45 days. On March 24, injured Shaktimaan was seen playing Holi with some officials.

His injured pictures had not only drew the attention of the nation but also gathered symapthies from across the world.

Here is how people reacted on the death of an innocent animal:

"Shaktiman was injured on March 14 after which we had to operate on him. He was later fitted with an artificial leg. But he was unable to fully recover from an infection," SSP Dehradun Sadanand Date said.

"The horse passed away at 5.30 PM. He was suffering from medical-related complications. The exact cause will be known only after post-mortem," IG Garhwal Sanjay Gunjyal said.

Expressing shock over the demise of the horse, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said,"It was a brave soldier of Uttarakhand and died while performing its duty."

"Though the artificial limb was put on Shaktiman, it was not working well and he was putting his entire weight on the another leg. That is why the infection spread. Today also a lot of care was taken and about eight doctors attended to the horse. It is sad that we could not save him," R S Meena, IG Law and Order, Uttarakhand, said.

BJP's Shaina NC said this was not an issue to be politicised. "It is the loss of life of an animal," she said, adding animal lovers across the country feel that a wrong has been done. "I think we all need to own this up at our own end," she said.

Animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi said, "Shaktiman died the same day when it was attacked and its leg broken. Horses with such weight have very little chance to live on three legs. We were mentally prepared for this but political parties are playing blame games."

"Shaktiman lost its battle with life after a brave fight of 37 days. I salute its bravery and also Dehradun police,doctors and Jamie who looked after Shakti and wanted it to live," filmmaker Vinod Kapri said. Kapri recently made a documentary on life and the struggle of the horse.

"It's not a death of a horse but a child in home. We treated Shaktimaan like our own child," an emotional Kapri said.

PETA India chief executive Poorva Joshipura told a news agency that the country should frame more stringent laws against animal assaulters so that peolple like Joshi refrain from being cruel to them. "We urge the government to act fast to ensure other animals are spared from cruelty and horrific deaths by strengthening the penalties for cruelty against animals."

Joshipura said the horse "was essentially killed the day its leg was broken". "Our equine veterinarian always warned his quality of life would be forever damaged and he may not live."

As soon as the heartbreaking news of Shaktrimaan spread, Twitteratti condoled its demise. Here are some tweets:

OneIndia News