6 new Labradors give more teeth to cops

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, January 1

The CID wing of the Haryana Police has become stronger as six more sniffer dogs joined the dog squad recently. With this, two dogs have retired from service. Now, the number of sniffer dogs with the police has risen to 18.

“The new dogs are Labradors. They underwent six-month training from the state-of-the-art centre of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Bhanu,” said Arvind Hooda, Assistant Director (Technical Wing), CID, Madhuban.

Punjab Singh, trainer of dogs, said: “The Labradors have several unique features. They have a calm and friendly nature, and mix up easily in the public.”

There are three types of dogs in the police — one for the detection of explosives. They are under the CID wing of the police. The second type is for tracking crime spots and the third type for the detection of narcotics. The second and third types are under the State Crime Branch, Madhuban.

“Earlier, there was single joint dog squad. In 2006, the dogs were divided as per their expertise,” Hooda said.

“We have seven explosive-detection sniffer dogs at our office in Madhuban. Trainers train them regularly,” the CID official said. Besides, a dog each is stationed at the CM’s residence and Secretariat in Chandigarh, Ambala, Rohtak, Hisar, Gurugram, Faridabad, Sirsa, Haryana Bhawan in Delhi and Rewari, he added.

Under the supervision of Anil Kumar Rao, IGP, CID, the dog squad has been proving its mettle. The explosive-detection sniffer dogs played a vital role during the Samjhauta Express blast in February 2007, and detected explosives in high quantity in a car parked outside the Ambala railway station in October 2011.

The explosive-detection sniffer dogs were also part of a team that handled two train blasts in Panipat and a blast in a bus near Pipli on National Highway 44 in 2017.

Tackling crime

• There are three types of dogs in the police — one for the detection of explosives. They are under the CID wing of the police 
• The second type is for tracking crime spots and the third type for the detection of narcotics. These dogs are under the State Crime Branch, Madhuban
• Earlier, there was single joint dog squad. In 2006, the dogs were divided on the basis of their expertise