Central Railway dog army gets extra bite

Meanwhile,the 11 dogs that were sent for training in July last year — seven to Delhi and four to Konnur — will reach Mumbai in the last week of this month.

They will join the existing 26 dogs in Mumbai division. Of the 26,16 are in Matunga and 10 in Kalyan.

Alok Bohra,senior divisional security commissioner,CR,said,“The black labrador pups were purchased on March 14. One is three months old,while the other is of four months. The pups will be sent to Konnur in July for training.”

Bruno is “cautious” but Bingo is playful.

Their day is spent practising — smelling explosives and tracking thieves. Otherwise,they play and fight with each other at the RPF dog squad in Matunga.

“Sniffer dogs are trained in detecting explosives. Five bags of explosives are kept before them and they are taught to smell and detect. Trackers are taught with the help of two handkerchiefs — they are made to smell one while another is hidden. After some practice,they bring the hidden hanky,’’ Bohra said.

CR has set up kennels at five stations — CSTM Dadar,Lokmanya Tilak Terminus,Thane and Kalyan — for this new bunch.

Tracking history

Till the 1990s,the railways in Mumbai only had trackers detecting thefts. Sniffer dogs were brought after the 1993 blasts. The first sniffer dog,Dolly,was brought in 1995. It was considered an expert in sniffing out RDX