Pricey pup: Bengaluru man's claim of buying Rs. 50-crore wolfdog triggers ED raid

A Bengaluru man's claim to have spent Rs. 50 crores on possibly one of the world's rarest dog breeds, sent an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team straight to his house on Thursday, to hunt down any sign of financial fraud.

The probe agency raided S. Satish's residence and also interrogated him about the rare dog, which he claimed to have purchased in February.

"I spent 500 million rupees on buying this pup because I am fond of dogs and like to own unique dogs and introduce them to India."

During the course of the raid, the ED team sifted through Satish's bank account extensively. Not finding any huge transactions around the time the wolfdog was allegedly purchased raised doubts over the use of the hawala route for payment, a source told NDTV.

The pricey pup, named Cadabomb Okami is barely a year old, and is a cross between an actual wolf and a Caucasian Shepherd, making it an incredibly-rare animal—one of the rarest dog breeds in the world. Standing at a height of about 70cm tall, the magnificient wolf-like beast already weighs more than 70kg, and is said to require copious amounts of meat daily.

Said to be the president of the Indian Dog Breeders Association, Satish claimed that the wolfdog was bred in the US, and had not been sold in the world before. The ED, in turn, claimed that Satish might also have lied about the dog's foreign upbringing. "The dog appears to be of Indian breed but a detailed probe is underway. His interrogation is still going on," the source said. 

Okami’s arrival in India sparked a lot of excitement, with videos featuring its public appearances garnering millions of views. According to the New York Post, Satish stopped breeding dogs about a decade ago, but he now makes a fortune by showing off his exotic dogs to excited crowds, raking in anywhere from $2,800 for 30 minutes to $11,700 for five hours. 

Satish also owns a rare Chow Chow, a dog breed that resembles a walking teddy bear, which he bought for about $3.25 million last year.

"I spend money on these dogs because they are rare. Besides, I get enough money because people are always curious to see them," he explained, as per an NDTV report. 

"They take selfies and pictures. My dog and I get more attention than an actor at a movie screening. We both are crowd-pullers.”

India