80 canines to graduate from IITA in Moinabad

Hyderabad: This will be passing out parade of a different kind! Simba, Rocky, Remo and Scooby are among the 80 canines who will be passing out of the Integrated Intelligence Training Academy (IITA) in Moinabad on Tuesday after having completed the basic induction course that commenced on June 15, 2020. These 80 canines are now […]

Hyderabad: This will be passing out parade of a different kind! Simba, Rocky, Remo and Scooby are among the 80 canines who will be passing out of the Integrated Intelligence Training Academy (IITA) in Moinabad on Tuesday after having completed the basic induction course that commenced on June 15, 2020.

These 80 canines are now ready to join duty and do what they are best at — sniff out explosives, narcotics and liquor apart from tracking vital clues at crime spots and assist the police in investigating cases. The recruits will be divided equally between the Police Departments of Telangana State and Bihar.

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Strictly adhering to Covid-19 safety protocols, the handlers of these dogs also underwent training. There are five breeds of dogs — Labrador, German Shepard, Belgian Malinois, Golden Retriever and Cocker Spaniel — who were trained in sniffing out explosives, narcotics ad tracking along with their handlers and assistant handlers for eight months.

During the training period, the first exercise that the dogs were put through was to bond with their handlers and then moved on to two months of training for basic obedience. This was followed by specialised category training in sniffing explosives, narcotics and liquor apart from undergoing training in tracking, assault and guarding for four months.

The performance of canines and their handlers is evaluated through tests every month, while agility test for canines is conducted daily. If any canine puts in a below-par performance, extra care is taken by the instructors to improve their performance. Mock drills were conducted to give these canines a feel of real-time experiences in sniffing activities in bus and railway stations and airports.

They also had to take a mid-term test before the final examination in sniffing and tracking, and for their handlers, written and oral test by a visiting faculty of other reputed training centres. This year Dr PK Chug, Consulting Director of Police K-9 Cell PM Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, was the examiner for the final test.

After inducting them into the Police Departments, the dogs would be used widely to attend to anti-sabotage checks in connection with VIPs visits, attending to bomb threat calls and in crime investigation duties. Officials said these dogs were brought from two kennels at Himayathsagar and Medchal at the age of six months. At the age of 14 months, these canines are handed over to the Police Department after completing the training.

“We use RDX, TNT and gun powder in small quantities to train dogs to sniff explosives and cocaine, heroin, marijuana and opium to sniff narcotics. For tracker dogs, we use chicken soup during training apart from developing master scent,” an official explained.

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