777 Charlie craze grips even cops; sniffer dog named after Rakshit Shetty starrer

Officials participated with the three-month-old pup in a sweet naming ceremony hosted at the police commissioner’s office on Friday and cut a cake. Talking to reporters, Mangaluru city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said he agreed when the staff suggested the name because it seemed a fitting one.

A special naming ceremony was hosted for new canine recruit.(Special arrangement)

“The film has nicely captured the relationship between a pet dog and its owner, which is also always seen between a dog and its handler,” Kumar said, adding that Charlie would be the fifth sniffer dog to join the commissionerate.

The force said Charlie the dog would now be sent to Bengaluru for six-month basic training. Handler Harish and assistant handler Vikram would also be accompanying the pup.

Charile, the three-month-old pup that was inducted by the police force. (Source: Special arrangement)

The department bought the dog recently from Bantwal for Rs 20,000. It will join the city police’s dog squad, which has other canines Geeta, Rani, Rubu and Bubly. Bubli and Ruby are deputed for crime detection work and the rest are experts in explosive detection.

According to an officer, the city police spend Rs 300 a day on food for each of the dogs and strictly follow a food chart. Each dog is insured by paying an annual premium of Rs 1,300.

[with inputs from Kiran Parashar in Bengaluru]