Prayagraj, Sep 12 (IANS): The three dogs belonging to slain gangster Atiq Ahmad have finally been adopted by two residents of Prayagraj.

Two local residents have adopted three dogs of Great Dane breed belonging from the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation (PMC) after the canines were registered by the civic body and allotted batch numbers 452, 453 and 460.

PMC animal husbandry officer Vijay Amrit Raj told reporters that two citizens Tauqir Ali of Asrawal Kala and Mohd Aman Ansari of Dariyabad, have adopted the dogs after paying the registration amount.

He added, "These citizens would be taking care of these foreign breed dogs."

A group of animal rights activists in July this year, had accused PMC of not taking proper care of the dogs. Some volunteers had asserted that the condition of two canines was deteriorating due to negligence.

The PMC authorities had given possession of the three dogs to a local breeder in March and they were kept in Asrawal village.

In March, Atiq's two other dogs had died due to alleged starvation at his ancestral home in Prayagraj after his family, which lived in another house and cared for the pets, went underground after February 24, following the murder of Umesh Pal, in which the entire family of Atiq was named as an accused.

There was no one to look after the dogs because family members were either in jail or on the run.