Hyderabad, An unidentified man in Hyderabad shot dead three dogs late on Monday, and it is the fourth incident of cruelty towards animals within a month in the city.

As per the Tappa Chabutra Police, "they received a call late in the evening from residents of Sri Alluri Sitarama Raju Colony in Gudimalkapur area that they saw a person fleeing after shooting the dogs."

“We rushed to the spot and found the stray dogs lying in a pool of blood. The locals, however, could not identify who the person was,” inspector B Ravinder said.

Neighbourhood people told police that the stray dogs were creating a lot of nuisance by continuously barking at passers-by. “Somebody might have got frustrated with them and decided to kill them,” they added.

A case has been booked under Section 429 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sent the bodies to a veterinary hospital for an autopsy to determine the kind of weapon that was used to kill them.

A person can be sent to jail for five years or punished with a fine, or with both, under the section.

An investigation is underway on this matter.