India stray dog 'steals' bag with 400,000 rupees in Bihar

A businessman in India's Bihar state has lodged a complaint with the police saying that a stray dog has run away with his bag containing 400,000 rupees ($7,424; £4,656).

Nakched Mian said the bag was kept on his bed while he went out to wash his hands at a water pump.

That was when the dog entered the room and ran off with the bag.

After a hunt was launched, 140,000 rupees ($2,597; £1,628) were recovered from a street close to the house.

But the rest of the money is still missing.

Stray dogs are a common sight on India's streets.

Police say the canine may have thought that there was food in the bag.

The incident took place in Gopalganj district, some 150kms (93 miles) north-west of the state capital, Patna.

Nakched Mian has given a written report of the incident but lodging a criminal case against the dog is "out of the question", police official Devendra Prasad Yadav said.

"When I went outside to wash my face at the water pump, I saw a stray dog running away with my money bag clutched in his mouth. I chased it but it disappeared from sight," Nakched Mian wrote in his complaint.

He said his son, who is working in the Gulf, had sent the money so he could buy some land.

Many local people have now joined the search for the missing bag as police believe the dog would have abandoned it after finding no food inside it.