Mumbai:
Former Miss India runner-up Natasha Suri was fined Rs 1,200 after her dog littered the premises of a residential society in Mumbai.
Natasha's neighbours from Vitthal Nivas building in Dadar lodged a complaint with the police against the model for creating a nuisance.
Soon after receiving the complaint, cops from the Dadar police station visited Natasha's ground floor flat, but since the model was not at home they detained her sister Soniya.
A complaint was filed against Natasha since the dog license bears her name and she was penalised Rs 1,200 for littering, informed police officials.
Though Natasha paid the fine, she said the police action against her was politically motivated and that officials were rude to her family and her.
"My dog Don was unwell and it was raining heavily on Saturday. That's why he soiled the staircase, which we cleaned immediately with phenyl. If the society members still had a grouse they should have informed me before approaching the police," said Natasha.
"After I was fined, a cop from the Dadar police station confessed that it was only after pressure from a local MLA that action was taken against me," she added.
According to sources, the society members are influential and had political connections. There was pressure on the cops to even confiscate the dog, but they couldn't do so as the pet was licensed.
While society members of the Vitthal Nivas building were reluctant to come on record, a few, requesting anonymity, said that the dog was a nuisance. "We were tired of the dog's antics. We had complained to Natasha several times, but she turned a deaf ear to us," they added.
Ashok Unde, senior inspector, Dadar police station, said, "We fined Natasha as we received a complaint that the dog was littering in the society premises."