3 min readMumbaiJun 29, 2026 03:09 PM IST
Nearly a month after a dog was allegedly beaten to death inside a residential complex in Mumbai’s Malad, the police identified a housekeeping employee and three others as the suspects with the help of CCTV footage retrieved by a forensic science lab (FSL). The video purportedly shows them fatally assaulting the dog with an iron rod before secretly disposing of its body.
“The recovered CCTV footage revealed that housekeeping staffer Vaibhav Koli, along with three members of the housing society, allegedly attacked the community dog, Mikey, with an iron rod and later disposed of the carcass to destroy evidence,” said Senior Inspector Shailendra Nagarkar of the Malwani police station.
According to the police, Koli told his interrogators that he was angry because the dog had bitten him a few days before the incident.
The police said they have served notices to all four suspects to cooperate with the investigation, warning they might be arrested if they fail to comply or violate the law.
Actor Manjari Fadnis reported Mikey missing
The incident came to light after actor Sanket Kadam, a resident of Raheja Exotica, filed a complaint alleging that Mikey, a community dog that had lived in the residential complex for nearly six years, was brutally killed and its body secretly disposed of. Actor Manjari Fadnis, who also resides in the complex, alleged that the dog had been killed.
According to the complaint, Mikey went missing on May 29. The dog was cared for by several residents, who regularly fed it and ensured it was vaccinated. Around 7 pm that day, Fadnis informed Kadam that the dog was missing. Despite searching the premises and circulating messages on the society’s WhatsApp group, the residents could not trace the animal.
Kadam further alleged that certain members of the housing society had previously objected to the dog’s presence and that Mikey had been assaulted on multiple occasions in the past.
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On June 6, the police registered an FIR against unidentified people for charges related to killing or an animal, causing the disappearance of evidence, along with charges under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Forensic experts examined the scene and collected multiple samples. One stain initially suspected to be blood was later confirmed by forensic analysis to be paan spit. Investigators also discovered that portions of CCTV footage had been deleted and that surveillance cameras had been switched off a day before the incident. The society’s digital video recorder was subsequently sent to the FSL in Kalina, Santacruz East, which recovered the deleted footage, leading investigators to identify the alleged perpetrators.