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The Scent Of Danger

Sniffing out bombs or drugs, it’s easy meat for the trained canine sleuths of the police

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The Scent Of Danger
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She sure has the nose for the job. For, literally, sniffing things out. Always on the right scent, this accomplished tracker from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had helped the authorities trace a 3,000-year-old gold idol of Lord Krishna, stolen from an ancient temple in Kulu. That was one of her first assignments in 1993. In three years, Roma’s sensitive nose landed her a posting in Jammu and Kashmir where she now specialises in tracking down corpses, her latest discovery being the bodies of two intelligence officers killed in an anti-terrorist operation. Roma’s colleague Bitty is an ace anti-sabotage sleuth also operating in the trouble-torn Valley. And their remuneration for the tough job well done? A warm pat on the back.

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Roma and Bitty are stars of the canine brigades of the police force. Hand-picked from among 1,200-odd trained dogs, an exclusive group of 67 canines representing 19 states kept everyone in thrall at the recent 43rd All-India Police Duty Meet (AIPDM) in Lucknow. The canine brigades in the Indian police forces mainly comprise of German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and Doberman pinschers. Eight-year-old Alsatian Roma and Bitty, a female Labrador of ITBP, came up trumps at the grand show, with Roma scoring the highest points-399 on 400. Says Bhanu Chandi, a senior coach from the ITBP dog training centre: "These dogs are indispensable to the police as no machine has yet been discovered to sniff out and trace targeted objects."

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Trained to work in extreme climatic conditions, these dogs have no problems with the mercury dipping 10 degrees below zero. Also, responsibilities on these top sleuths are numerous. Says Suman Kumar, inspector in the Punjab Police and in-charge of the force’s dog squad: "We realised that dogs had to be inducted into the force after the assassination of former chief minister Beant Singh." Kumar brims with pride while describing how one of his Labradors, Gem, saved the life of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal: the tracker had detected an explosive device in a car parked within the premises of the Chandigarh secretariat.

Sporting red and blue velvet dog jackets, complete with the embossed insignia of the Punjab Police, these quadruped sleuths certainly look robust. "Sarbjit Singh, our director-general of police, is very particular about their maintenance," informs Kumar. The daily ration for each dog includes one-and-a-half litres of milk, 700 grams of meat, two eggs, about a kg of flour and, occasionally, rice. Iron- and calcium-rich tonic formulations are also administered to the dogs to keep them fighting fit.

Police forces across the country depend on ‘foreign’ breeds as induction of indigenous breeds into their dog squads is still an experimental reality. Experiments have been carried out with these species in different dog training centres across the country. Says R.K. Ahuja, who has been the chief trainer in the Railways’ dog squad: "It is difficult to train the indigenous species as they fail to pick up the more sophisticated exercises." These dogs are not as mentally alert as their foreign counterparts. He, however, adds that the desi breeds do make loyal guards.

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For assignments with the regular forces, the canines are put through training sessions at an early age of three months, subject, of course, to proper inoculation. "However, for the first six months we treat the pups with kid-gloves," says Sardari Lal, principal of the National Training Centre for Dogs, Gwalior, the top dog training institute in the country. Once they are six months old, the pups are given basic training on obeying orders and guarding for three months. More rigorous training follows in the next three months. By this time, the dogs attain both physical and mental maturity. On completion of these modules, these dogs take a qualifying test for further specialisation. In the qualifying round, a dog has to pass in all the 14 exercises slotted for this stage. On the basis of their performance, the canines are then sent for training in narcotics or explosives detection. Some of them are also trained as trackers, while the forces deploy mediocre trainees as guards.

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At the ‘dog show’, these qualities of agility, alertness and obedience were clearly visible. Be it jumping through a ring of fire or guarding a briefcase, the dogs did the job assigned to them the minute the order was given. Also, resisting a bowl of chunky meat pieces must not have been easy for the dogs. But when the instructor thundered "No", not one participant dared even drool over the bowl when the judge passed it around.

The toughest exercise for the sniffers involved tracking down an improvised explosive device hidden in one of the 18 similar looking bags. Seven dogs stood alertly lined up with their handlers. On being unleashed, they ran from one bag to the other sniffing fiercely, with restlessness replacing their confident exterior as each second passed. They zeroed in on the fifth bag, announcing their discovery in loud, triumphant barks. The exercise is demonstrative of the sniffers’ ability to track down opium, other narcotics, and explosive devices. "It is their strong sense of loyalty and obedience that saves a million human lives," says Chandi.

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However, paucity of funds remains a major problem with most dog squads in state police forces. At least Rs 2,000 a month per dog is needed to keep these quadruped sleuths fighting fit. While the allocation is less than a third of this amount for states like Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are also cash-strapped. Says an Uttar Pradesh police official: "Let us hope that our seniors realise the importance of healthy dogs in the police." Moreover, large states like Uttar Pradesh are also facing a shortage of trained police dogs. Ideally, there should be four trained police dogs for a district while there are only 32 trackers for entire Uttar Pradesh.

Observes Lal: "The government must allocate at least Rs 1,500 for each dog." His college trains dogs for all state police forces, paramilitary units and other law-enforcement agencies. Currently, over 1,000 dogs are being trained at this institute. Lal says Labradors and Alsatians can be better trained to perform difficult tasks. "These dogs are more docile than pinschers. So, there’s less risk involved in training them, especially for explosives detection," he explains. While tracking explosives, these dogs are trained not to ‘speak’ (that is, bark) on discovery as most devices used by the militants these days are sound-sensitive.

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But when their keen senses rust with age, these dogs are ‘retired’ from service. For the quadrupeds, though, there are no superannuation benefits. The lucky few are auctioned off. Those weak in the sinews and considered ‘useless’ by the forces are put to ‘sleep’. Surely, in this game of survival by instinct, there are no permanent winners.

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