Pune: 'Kidnapped' beagle pup back with owner, Zomato says not our man

Online food delivery platform Zomato on Thursday said that it could confirm that none of its staff was involved in a recent case where a Pune resident had alleged that her pet beagle pup was taken away by a food delivery person.

"We deeply empathise with the trauma of having a pet missing. However, after 48 hours of conducting thorough investigations within our database, delivery partner network and liaising with the police, we confirm that the alleged person is not a part of our delivery fleet," Zomato spokesperson said in a statement.

The food delivery start-up said that it had conveyed the same to dog-parent, Vandana Shah, who had alleged that a Zomato delivery boy had picked up the beagle 'Dottu' from within the premises of her factory- cum home, two days ago.

'Dottu', the two-month-old beagle reunited with its owners after it was returned to them after 52 hours after a massive search and post a flurry of Twitter posts by Vandana

On Wednesday, Shah had lodged a complaint at Pune's Alankar police station giving information about the dog, which went missing on Monday at 11.30 am from Shah's home-cum-factory premises at Karve Road. The factory produces ball bearings.

In CCTV footage, Dottu was last seen playing and roaming inside the premises of her home. Shah had said that on enquiring from a few food delivery guys at an eatery near their home, one of them recognised the dog and said it was taken away by his colleague.

Shah also got hold of a picture of her dog with a man, who turned out to be a food delivery personnel of Zomato, who was identified as one Tushar.

"We took his contact number and asked him about Dottu. Tushar confessed to having picked him up but when we asked him to return the dog he started making up excuses and said that he had sent him to his village," she had said.

"We also offered him money in exchange for our beagle but he kept on giving us evasive answers and for the last few hours he has switched off his cellphone", Shah had said.

Shah had reached out to Zomato seeking their help and the food delivery platform responded. "That's totally not acceptable. Please help us with your contact details or the order details via DM and someone from our team will reach out to you at the earliest," Zomato had quickly responded on the microblogging site.

In its statement on Thursday, Zomato said the confusion arose as other delivery executives stationed at a nearby restaurant suggested that the person might have been associated with Zomato.

It said that people can connect with the police and the accused Tushar to confirm the facts.

Meanwhile, Vandana Shah is thrilled that she has 'Dottu' back. "Dottu mil gaya...." she said.