Dogs knock down AC mechanic from rooftop, 2 held

In a tragic incident a college student who also works as a part time AC mechanic died after falling from the roof of a five storey building when he was pounced on by two pet dogs. The victim was a resident of Rasakunja in Bishnupur in South 24 Parganas.

The incident took place at Thakurpukur on Tuesday night. Police said that the victim, Gaurav Purkait (18) died on the spot. He was declared brought dead when he was rushed to a nearby hospital. The victim, a college student, also used to work as an AC mechanic to earn his pocket money. In last few months the victim had earned a good reputation as a mechanic. The money the teenager earned was also used to support his family. But the incident has cut short a promising life. Police have arrested Sumit Bhattacharya, the owner of the dogs and charged him with culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 of IPC. Bhattacharya is a teacher of an English medium school in Alipore. Police also initiated a case against Tapas Kumar Ghosal who had appointed the victim for repairing of an AC machine in the building. He was charged with unlawful compulsory labour under Section 374 of IPC.

Police said that the victim had repeatedly told the accused teacher to tie up the dogs as he is scared of dogs but the arrested teacher did not take enough preventive measures. Two full grown Alsatians, Kuttush and Miki pounced on the victim. Purkait who was standing on a cornice and was repairing an AC machine fell when the dogs had attacked him. The victim fell from the cornice when the dogs pounced on him. The incident happened when Bhattacharya took the dogs to the rooftop for a walk at night. Sniffing a man on the other side of the wall, the dogs charged at him. The dogs freed themselves and ran towards the wall despite the fact that the owner was holding on to the leash. Police after examining the CCTV footage came to know that the victim fell on the ground with a loud thud.

Tarun Purkait, another youth who was accompanying the victim to the roof said that he had asked Bhattcharya not to go to the roof as Purkait was working on the cornice. But he could not hold on to the fully grown dogs that resulted in the accident.