Three well-trained canines (a tracker and two sniffer dogs) have joined the dog squad of the district police making it a well-composed nine-member-strong canine unit.
One of the new entrants – a sniffer dog named ‘Juno’ – has won a gold medal in the recently-concluded intensive training camp at Intelligence Integrated Training Academy (IITA) at Moinabad near Hyderabad.
Besides the induction of the three new dogs, the squad already has four Labradors and one beagle and German Shepherd.
The beagle named ‘Tammy’ had won a gold medal in the category of detecting narcotics during its training session in 2015.
Anti-sabotage checks
The Bhadradri-Kothagudem district police’s dog squad also received two well-trained canines to aid the anti-sabotage and crime detection tasks.
The district police as well as the CRPF personnel extensively use the services of canine squads in anti-sabotage operations in the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas in Bhadrachalam Agency bordering Chhattisgarh.
These specialised units have been deployed along with the bomb disposable squads in Charla and other border areas in Bhadrachalam division, sources said.
The entry of the three new canines into the Khammam district police’s dog squad has not only increased the strength of the canine unit, but has made it a multi-skilled squad, says D. Suraj Kumar, in-charge of the squad.
All the canines in the unit are trained in performing multifarious tasks ranging from sniffing out explosive and narcotic substances to tracking criminals.
Rita, a tracker dog, bagged the first prize in a dog competition held as part of All India Police Duty Meet in 2017, he recalls.
Their role is of paramount significance in carrying out anti-sabotage checks at the venues of meetings attended by VVIPs and at public places, besides in preventing and detecting crimes, he underlines.
Each dog has a trained handler, who look after the canines to keep them fit and follow their commands scrupulously.