Dehradun, Mar 16 (Agencies): Confronting anger over the heartbreaking visuals of a horse, its hind leg broken and dangling after it was brutally attacked during at a protest he was leading, BJP lawmaker Ganesh Joshi says: "The horse is very old...it was an accident."
Shaktiman, a police horse, almost lost its leg but is better after a five-hour surgery by a team of 10 doctors at Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
The animal is recuperating at the police lines, looked after by a large number of policemen.
No visitors are allowed; on Tuesday, a stream of visitors to see the horse included politicians like Chief Minister Harish Rawat. The animal was bothered by the cameras, said caretakers.
Doctors say Shaktiman will not need an amputation, which became a big worry as images of the broken and bloodied leg flashed across TV screens.
"The operation was successful. His multiple fractures were fixed using an external fixture," said police officer Sadanand Datte, adding that doctors had instructed the police on how to take care for the horse.
The 13-year-old horse has been a prized trophy of the mounted police for 10 years. It has been a part of police ceremonial parades since it was a three-year-old colt.
In footage from the Monday protest, Ganesh Joshi was seen brandishing a stick and appearing to aim at the policeman mounted on Shaktiman.
Ganesh Joshi, accused of animal cruelty in a police complaint, has denied that he had hit the horse. "The horse stepped on one of our workers and the worker is now hospitalized," Mr Joshi told NDTV.
He blamed the police for the horse's injury. "Police shouldn't have brought the horse. Police is responsible," Mr Joshi said.
A report suggested that union minister Maneka Gandhi, a passionate animal rights activist, has urged her BJP leadership to expel Mr Joshi "without delay".
Videos that have emerged since the incident show that while Mr Joshi did lead supporters in a charge at policemen, hitting out repeatedly with the stick, he did not strike the horse. But other protesters aimed repeated blows at the animal.
Video footage shows the policeman backing the horse up a short staircase, and the animal slipping as a protester yanked at the cop, appearing to twist its leg under its own weight.