CISF adds more bite to its security set up in Bengaluru airport

BENGALURU: Six super-efficient and exceptionally intelligent canines, all of the Belgian Malinois breed, have just completed their training and are set to be inducted into one of the units of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) of the Kempegowda International Airport. Bengaluru will become the first airport in the country to have this breed put on security duty.

According to CISF sources, five are female and they have been specially trained to sniff explosives. “They will be inducted into the Airport Security Group, a unit of the CISF, into its K-9 dog squad. With the induction of the six Malinois, seven out of our 15-strong canine squad will be the Belgian ones,” a top official said.

Gracie, Laika, Lily, Rambo, Daisie & Bella have undergone training at the Dog Breeding and Training School of the Central Reserve Police Force at Taralu, he said. The CISF canine squad at the airport comprises Labradors, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Cocker Spaniel and one Malinois.

The breed shot to international fame after Cairo, a Belgian Malinois, helped the US Navy SEAL team track and kill former Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, during their operation Neptune Spear. Another Malinois, Conan, played a key role in the death of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, ISIS leader in Syria during a commando raid on October 27, 2019.

“The dog is known for its excellent nose work and high levels of alertness. It will help us to detect bombs and even the slightest amount of explosives,” another official said. “It works every efficiently in challenging situations. The ASG in Bengaluru is the first airport in the country to induct Belgian Malinois in its squad,” he said.

The agile dogs have tremendous endurance and intelligence and were first deployed in India by the CRPF in anti-naxalite operations. A year ago, the CISF at Delhi Metro inducted one Belgian Malinois, Khoj, into its security team.

The new team, which completed its training on December 16, will be formally inducted into the workforce shortly.