RAILWAYS : *DOG SQUAD : THE ‘CANINE HEROES’ OF EASTERN RAILWAY

TTT NEWS NETWORK

KOLKATA, 13 JULY 2023:

Eastern Railway led by Mr. Amar Prakash Dwivedi, General Manager of  Eastern Railway is taking all possible steps to ensure safety and security at Railway premises and also maintaining peaceful atmosphere. Mr.i Paramshiv, IG-cum-Principal Chief Security Commissioner/ Railway Protection Force/ Eastern Railway is also very keen to execute the directions of General Manager/ Eastern Railway and taking all possible measures to augment security of the passengers at Railway premises.

Supplementing the strength of Eastern Railway’s RPF team, Super Dogs in the ‘Dog Squad’ of Railway Protection Force of Eastern Railway have proven their mettle on several occasions. These Canines are given ranks and promotion on the basis of their achievements and performance. Dogs provide a viable and effective alternative to technology. Sniffer dogs, owing to their natural sniffing capabilities, have been successful in detecting explosives. Moreover, certain breeds of dogs can also track down the accused suspects in real time based on their power of sniffing. A single search and rescue dog can accomplish the work of 20-30 human sea rchers.

Dogs due to certain inherent qualities have become an integral and extremely useful tool for the security forces in modern times. It is known for its extraordinary power of sniffing which is almost 100 times that of humans, ultrasonic hearing and natural vision capability and readiness to work under all geo-climatic conditions. It is aggressive, alert, loyal, relatively inexpensive and easy to train.

Utility of dogs in Policing work extended even to explosives detection, as a tracker and guard, for narcotic detection and for search and rescue Operations at Disaster Management sites. Keeping in view of the threat perception to the Railways from the insurgents, left wing extremists and the criminal operating on the system, the importance of sniffer dogs as an aid to Security is very high on the Railways followed by tracker and other types of trained dogs. The High-Level Committee on Security of Railways set up by the MHA and the Ministry of Railways also proposed that a dog squad must be part of all bomb detection teams.

Railway Protection Force of Eastern Railway  has efficient teams of well-trained sniffer, tracker, Narcotic dogs as part of its Dog Squad. There are 32 such Canine Heroes (13 in Howrah Division, 08 in Sealdah Division, 05 in Asansol and 06 in Malda Division) of which 23 are Sniffer deployed for detection of Bombs/Explosion and wild life, 07 Tracker deployed for Crime Investigation and 02 Narcotic Detector deployed for detection of smuggling cases.

Cooper, Ruffel, Oliver, Zino, Duke, Badsah, Misti, Krish, Romeo, Paddy, Oreo, Jack, Alex are some of the most smart and able dogs in the squad who have helped in detection of narcotics, Wild Life and have played an important role in not only aiding security personnel but also solving many criminal cases.

It is worthy to note that Dog ‘Badsah’ of RPF/Dog Squad/Howrah Division has assisted in detection of Foreign Cigarette Case worth Rs 10,26,000/- with arrest of 01 smuggler in the year 2022. Dog ‘Misti’ of Howrah helped in detection of ‘Ganja’ worth Rs 6,90,000/- with 01 arrest. Dog ‘Cooper’ of Howrah tracked and rescued 50 tortoises from Howrah Railway Station.

On the other hand, Dog ‘ALEX’ has played a vital role in investigation of a murder case vide Local P.S./SGG case no- 493/22 dated 19.12.2022 U/s 302,201,120B, 34 IPC and helped in arrest of prime accused ‘Chotu Kumar’.

These dogs are housed and trained at special Kennels situated at RPF Dog Training Squad/Dayabasti/New Delhi, K-9 Training Center/Pune, RPF/Training Center/Podanur/ Tamilnadu and BSF Training Center/Tekanpur/Gwalior are trained and handled by efficient trained team of RPF Dog handlers.

Most of these Canine Heroes are Labradors, German Shephard (Sniffer) and Doberman and Belgium Malinois Shephard (Tracker).

RPF Dog have are being generally used for Anti-Sabotage checking, frisking of parcels, luggages, suspicious (unattended) baggages etc.

Not only this, these Super Dogs of Eastern Railway have also proven their mettle outside Railways when they have been called upon by the State Government to help solve crimes. These Canines are given ranks and promotion on the basis of their achievements and performance.