34 puppies join Delhi Police, with aim to add bite to bark by G20
The breed of the dogs include German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, Labrador and Golden Retriever.
4 min read
The Delhi Police is also set to receive 13 trained dogs from the Army’s RVC (Remount and Veterinary Corps) unit In its largest procurement of explosive detecting dogs since the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Delhi Police has got 34 puppies on board and is set to receive 13 more trained canines to add strength to its G-20 preparation. This will double the strength of the K9 squad to nearly 100, senior police officers said.
Sources told The Indian Express that the puppies are less than one year old, and come from a kennel in Hyderabad, while the trained dogs from the Indian Army’s RVC (Remount and Veterinary Corps) unit will join by June. “We currently have 52 dogs in our K9 squad of different age groups, out of which nine are tracker dogs, three are for detecting narcotics and 40 are explosive detection dogs,” an officer said, adding that the new canines will take the total strength of its dog squad to 99.
The officer added that the 34 puppies are undergoing a six-month training programme at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police’s Basic Training Centre (BTC) in Haryana’s Panchkula district. “They are currently being trained on how to quickly and efficiently track explosives or bombs. They have a strict diet regimen during that time, and by the end of six months, they will be sufficiently prepared to be inducted into our force’s dog squad and will then be handed over to their handlers for G-20 deployment,” the officer said.
The breed of the dogs include German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, Labrador and Golden Retriever.
“The 13 trained canines from the Army will be around two years old… The puppies cost us around Rs 20-21 lakh in total while for each trained canine, we have spent around Rs 3-4 lakh,” another officer added. “In 2019 too, we had procured 20 puppies, and after their training, they were inducted into our canine squad.”
The dogs that the Delhi Police currently have are deployed in batches of two to seven at nine police stations across several districts, with their “headquarters” at the Crime Branch’s Model Town facility.
“We deploy these dogs at various police districts as per the requirement, such as if any event with a large gathering is planned like Republic or Independence Day, or at hotels during visits of foreign dignitaries there,” the officer said.
DCP (Crime) Satish Kumar said the dogs and their handlers will be deployed for various duties pertaining to the G20 summit and will add to the security cover. “The dogs will be deployed in highly sensitive areas in New Delhi district, around Pragati Maidan, and in hotels where foreign dignitaries will stay in order to sniff out any suspicious objects and prevent any bomb attacks,” Kumar said.
An officer said that dogs of the squad serve a tenure of around eight years depending on their physical and mental agility. “Every year, around five to ten dogs keep retiring and more dogs or pups are procured. We have around 80 to 90 dog handlers. There have been several instances where our dogs have helped crack tough cases which human intelligence could not solve. Now, with almost 100 dogs as part of our armory, we’ll have added assistance during investigation,” another officer added.
Officers said that apart from being involved in anti-sabotage operations and sniffing out evidence in crime scenes in the city, the dogs also participate in various dog shows along with their handlers to showcase their athletic ability and sensory skills.
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