Hyderabad: In a fresh case of alleged animal cruelty, around 200 stray dogs were reportedly killed in Telangana’s Kamareddy district, taking the total number of canine deaths in the state to nearly 500 over the past week, police said on Tuesday.

Police sources said some elected representatives, including village sarpanches, are suspected to have ordered the killings to fulfil promises made to villagers during the recent gram panchayat elections to curb the stray dog menace.

A case has been registered against six people, including five sarpanches, for their alleged involvement in the Kamareddy incident. Notices have been issued to the accused, police said.

The latest incident follows a similar case in Hanamkonda district, where police had earlier booked nine people — including two women sarpanches and their husbands — for the alleged killing of around 300 stray dogs in Shayampet and Arepally villages.

“Ahead of the gram panchayat elections held in December, some candidates promised villagers they would address the stray dog and monkey menace. They are now allegedly fulfilling those promises by killing stray dogs,” sources said.

Police said the carcasses were buried on the outskirts of villages. Veterinary teams later exhumed the bodies and conducted post-mortem examinations. Viscera samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory to ascertain the cause of death and identify the poison used, a senior police official told PTI.

Animal welfare activist Adulapuram Goutham, who filed a complaint at Machareddy police station on Monday, said he received information that nearly 200 dogs were killed over the past two to three days in five villages of Palwancha mandal in Kamareddy district.

He alleged that the killings were carried out at the behest of sarpanches, who reportedly hired a person to administer poisonous injections. Goutham said he personally visited Bhavanipet village and found dog carcasses dumped there, and later learnt of similar incidents in Palwancha, Faridpet, Wadi and Bandarameshwarapally villages.

Based on the complaint, police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Earlier, police said around 300 stray dogs were allegedly poisoned to death over three days from January 6 in Hanamkonda district, prompting separate cases against sarpanches, gram panchayat secretaries and hired individuals.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would consider directing states to pay “heavy compensation” in dog-bite cases and hold dog feeders accountable, expressing concern over poor implementation of norms related to stray animals over the past five years.