Bengaluru to get 50 more police dogs for Rs 2.5 cr

Cops' best friend

Bengaluru will induct 50 more police dogs at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore in order to ease the pressure on the existing 60-member canine squad.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao announced this after inaugurating the upgraded dog activity park at the CAR (South) ground in Adugodi on Tuesday. Police dogs play an important role in the detection of explosives, drugs and crimes, he said.

Bengaluru got its first police dog squad in 1968 with the induction of six canines. The number rose to 60 and the dog squad currently has 15 German Shepherds that are used to detect bombs, 30 Labrador Retrievers that sniff narcotics and 15 Doberman Pinschers used in crime detection.

The dogs are currently employed at government buildings, such as the Vidhana Soudha, the High Court of Karnataka, the Raj Bhavan, the chief minister’s office and residence, airport, railway and bus stations and other buildings.

But this number isn’t enough, according to Rao. He said the dog activity park had been upgraded in order to provide police canines the best training possible. The park has been upgraded under the guidance of Yogesh M, Deputy Commissioner of Police (CAR-South), and ACP Ninga Reddy Patil, Rao said.

Police will hire the services of dog psychologist Amrut Hiranya, popularly known as ‘Dog Guru’, to upgrade the dog squad. He will train dog breeds such as German Shepherd, Belgian Shepherd (considered the world’s most intelligent police dog), Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retriever and Doberman Pinschers. Besides, police are also considering appointing women police constables as dog handlers.

During the inauguration of the dog activity park, police dogs demonstrated new techniques such as vehicle hijacking, explosive and drug detection, anti-terrorism and anti-naxal warfare.