Thiruvananthapuram: The City Corporation on Sunday sought police assistance after a group of foreign nationals allegedly assaulted a municipal health team involved in capturing stray dogs from the Vellar ward on Saturday night. One of the animal handlers who was injured in the incident has been hospitalised.

Mayor C. Jayan Babu said he had talked to City Police Commissioner K. Padmakumar and sought his assistance to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. On the basis of a complaint lodged by the Corporation, the Kovalam police booked four foreign nationals, including Avis Lyons of Animal Rights Kerala, on charges of assault and preventing Government officials from discharging their duty. The police were also investigating whether the accused had violated visa conditions. They said the identity of the other three accused could be confirmed only after questioning Ms. Lyons.

According to G.R. Anil, chairman of the Corporation's Standing Committee on Health, the squad was attacked and beaten up by a six-member persons, including four women and their associates, claiming to be animal rights activists. The squad members fled into the premises of the Samudra Hotel at Kovalam where the security personnel alerted the police.

A police team that arrived on the scene was confronted by the angry women who refused to budge. Later, women constables were brought in to remove the foreign nationals. Corporation officials said the police had refused to register a case against the miscreants. "They wanted to hush up the incident because it involved foreign nationals," said a civic official.

Mr. Anil said the foreign nationals were guilty of violating visa conditions. "They have no right to disrupt an official programme or take the law into their hands. We have requested the police to register a criminal case and take legal action against them," he said.

According to civic officials, the squad members were capturing dogs in the Poonthura area when they received a call alerting them of the menace created by a couple of rabid dogs at Vellar. The squad comprising three dogcatchers and a driver immediately rushed to Vellar where they were accosted and manhandled by the gang lying in wait for them. "Apparently, the squad was lured into a trap," said a civic official.

The driver of the vehicle was pushed out and the others beaten up and their shirts torn. The women demanded that the captured dogs inside the vehicle be released on the spot.

By the time the police rescued the squad, one of the dogcatchers had sustained an injury on his hand. He was later admitted to the General Hospital.

The Mayor visited the hospital on Sunday morning along with the Corporation Health Officer Sreekumar and Mr. Anil. He later called up the Police Commissioner and requested him to ensure the safety of the Corporation employees. He said the Commissioner had promised to inquire into the matter and take legal action against the miscreants.

Corporation's Senior Veterinary Surgeon L. Ravikumar said the attack by the foreign nationals based at Kovalam was the latest in a chain of similar incidents over the past few months. "The same people had tried to prevent our team from capturing stray dogs posing a menace to the public. By assaulting citizens and creating a law and order situation, they have raised a challenge to the rule of law," he said.

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