EC wants 40 dogs to man inter-state nakas ahead of poll

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 16

Trusting age-old friend to sniff out drugs from Punjab interstate borders, the Election Commission has ordered deputing 40 dogs across the state inter-state nakas to “ensure that drugs are not hidden and smuggled”. These dogs will help sniff out hidden drugs being smuggled in Punjab ahead of the poll and would be video-graphed at nakas.

In a latest communiqué to all police commissioners and SSPs in Punjab, the Election Commission wants to hold inter-state nakas under strict vigil of flying squads and the police, where sniffer dogs be pressed into service to detect smuggling of drugs. “Stationing of sniffer dogs — 40 dogs will be stationed across all inter-state nakas and railway stations and bus stands, for detection of narcotic drugs. Presently, 12 such dogs are readily available,” it reads.

At present, 12 such dogs are available with security agencies and are used to smell explosives during VIP visits. These trained dogs are used by state’s bomb disposal squads to meet the mounting pressure of VIP protection in the face of threat of hard-to-detect RDX and plastic explosives. The other important use of these canines is their ability to sniff out drugs and, therefore, the security agencies trust their ability.

Recently, almost three dozen such dogs completed training at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy (PPA) at Phillaur. The Punjab Government had recently put these dogs on duty outside the Central Jails to sniff out visitors entering jail premises to meet inmates. In addition to the already available breeds of German shepherd and Labrador, the state police recently introduced two new breeds of Belgian shepherd and golden retriever in the state police department, which are now under training.

During the recent grilling by security agencies, Arjuna Award winning wrestler Jagdish Bhola and alleged NRI drug dealer Anoop Singh Kahlon, arrested in the multi-crore drug scam in Punjab, had revealed that they were allegedly instrumental in procuring raw material and preparing drugs in factories set up for the purpose. They had hired specialists from Vietnam and China (many of whom were NRIs) to package drugs with special wraps to evade detection by sniffer dogs and X-ray scanners at airports and cargo ports.

“These dogs have proved to be an asset outside jails and have been instrumental in cracking many cases of drug smuggling by inmates,” said a senior police officer. “The results are good as they have the uncanny knack of barking, pouncing upon suspects after smelling drugs, especially synthetic –which sometimes is hidden in air-tight packets,” said a senior police officer.

Costing Rs 1 lakh, these dogs are put through a grilling 32-week training in which emphasis is laid on sniffing out explosives like acid salts (ammonium nitrate), nitramines (RDX) and peroxides (TAT) etc along with chemicals and drugs.