40 puppies to be trained as Games sniffer dogs

Commonwealth Games 2010 is a big challenge and no one knows it better than the Delhi Police. In a bid to provide fool-proof security for the athletes at the Games Village and venues, a high-level Delhi Police team of crime branch and special branch left for Hyderabad on Wednesday. They will get 40 puppies that will be used as sniffer dogs during the Commonwealth Games.

According to Rajan Bhagat, PRO, Delhi Police, these puppies will undergo extensive training from January 1, 2010 by BSF trainers.

‘‘We have already asked for 40 slots in their training programme after the police commissioner, Y S Dadwal had an extensive discussion over this with senior BSF officials. After these 40 puppies complete training, we will be procuring another 20 from Meerut,’’ said Bhagat.

Among those officers who left for Hyderabad were the additional CP (crime) Neeraj Thakur, PRO Rajan Bhagat, Popli — the Special Protection Group doctor — and Delhi government doctor Girish Bharadwaj. Sources said that another team consisting of an ACP rank officer, the chief trainer and a dog handler had reached Hyderabad. ‘‘Once the dogs are selected, each of them will receive an unique identity. In order to facilitate this, all 60 dogs will be provided with micro-chips. Since it is a huge exercise, several security agencies are also chipping in with their expertise in this field,’’ said a senior police official.

According to this source, the officers were asked to ensure that none of the dogs are more than one-year-old and that they are all preferably from the same breed. ‘‘Any dog beyond this age can potentially be difficult to train. However, some dogs which are smaller in size like the Cocker Spaniel might be preferred since they can move about freely in crowded places,’’ said a senior police officer.