Palampur: Dog guarded his master’s body for 48 hours, fought off wild animals

Ravinder Sood

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Palampur, February 7

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

These words seem apt in the case of Alpha, a German Shepherd who stood guard next to the body of his master Abhinandan Gupta at a height of 9,000 ft in the Bir area of Kangra in freezing cold for 48 hours.

Refused to eat food

• It was a heart-wrenching scene when the police found the dog howling and moving around its master’s body
• When the police offered food to the dog, it refused to accept it; later accompanied bodies till Bir in Palampur

The pet not only saved itself but also the bodies of its master and his friend from wild animals such as black bear and leopard, which are common in the area. Braving the cold, the dog sustained injuries while protecting the bodies against attack by wild animals as indicated by the mauled bodies of the two.

Family members of Abhinandan reached Baijnath to take his body and his pet to Pathankot. They said Alpha was now the only memory of Abhinandan they had.

Abhinandan, who was from Pathankot, and his friend Parnita Bala Sahib, who hailed from Pune, had gone to Billing, a popular tourist spot near Palampur, on Sunday afternoon by a car. Because of heavy snow, they left the car mid-way and moved on foot to reach Billing along with Alpha.

While returning to their base camp at Chogan near Bir, both slipped in heavy snow and fell into a deep gorge. They tried to come out of the gorge as indicated by footprints on snow, but in vain. Later, because of severe cold and injuries, they died.

A rescue team comprising the police and para-gliders found the dog sitting next to the bodies. The dog’s continuous howling reflected its desperation and grief as if it was hoping that the team would save its master. Alpha, who too sustained injuries, survived and continued to guard the two bodies for 48 hours till Tuesday when the rescue team reached the spot. “Around 7 pm, we got a call from the brother-in-law of the boy that he had not reached home. Rescue teams were constituted to search the area near Lambar Mod, where the bodies were later found,” said a police official.

“The duo was last spotted on a ridge by some other tourists. Two teams were sent on either side of the hill. Finally, their bodies were found with the German Shepherd dog sitting guard,” the official said.

Bir SHO Dalip Saklani said it was a heart-wrenching scene when the police found the dog howling and moving around the body of its master. He said when the police offered food to the dog, it refused to accept it. However, it allowed the police and the rescue team to remove the bodies peacefully from the gorge and accompanied these till Bir. Abhinandan and Parnita Bala Sahib were missing since Sunday.