Mongrels for detecting explosives in Naxal hotbed

The Chhattisgarh Police is planning to train a new batch of street dogs for anti-Naxal operations after the canines delivered good results by detecting over 350 Improvised Explosive Devices and landmines in the past two years.

The mongrels, being trained at the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College, have helped save the lives of a number of policemen by detecting the explosives.

The street dogs, being trained for anti-Naxal police duties, have better utility value when compared to high-breed canines like Labrador and German Shepherd.

"The local street dogs have an edge over the pedigreed dogs as they do not get tired in the hot weather and rough terrain in the dense jungles and Naxal hotbeds of the state. They have a better adaptability to the environment and have produced excellent results in police and security duties," CTJW Director Brigadier (retd) B K Ponwar said.

"Presently, we are training four such dogs Teja, Sally, Heena and Rolly after we found that our experiment with such dogs bore excellent results. More such dogs who have good built and display positive orientation for police duties will be trained," Ponwar, who has been designated as Inspector General (IG) of Chhattisgarh police for running the CTJW, said.

Ponwar helped set up the unique college here six years ago after he was asked by the state government to train its policemen for special operations in view of the naxal problem.

Ponwar said while the college is also training pedigreed dogs, the results with street dogs has been excellent and more than what was expected of them.

"They require less pampering, less investment of resources and less care. They have a high stamina when it comes to working in these areas. They are good learners," Ponwar said.

Central security forces like Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibet Border Police and Border Security Force deployed for anti-Naxal operations in the state are also being assisted by a specialised breed of imported Belgian shepherd dogs for 'infantry patrols' and to provide pre-ambush warning to the troops.

"A police dog is an essential component of any security force squad. This part was missing in anti-Naxal operations. As the local dogs are best suited for this terrain, they are now being deployed to assist the forces. They can avert major casualties and ambushes by giving early signals to their masters," a senior police officer said on the condition of anonymity.

The high-breed dogs have been used with success by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops in Afghanistan and Israeli troops in Gaza.