Indian breed dogs will soon be deployed on police duty, Home Ministry issued special order

Indian dog breeds like Rampur Hound, Gaddi, and Bakharwal are likely to be deployed as police dogs. Officials said they will be used to sniff out suspects, narcotics, and explosives, besides patrolling high-risk areas. However, till now dogs of foreign breeds have been kept here.

Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) like BSF, CRPF, and CISF are all set to recruit Indian dog breeds for police duties. The trial of some dogs like Rampur Hound is also going on. An order has also been issued for testing the dogs of the Himalayan Mountains.

Currently, almost all police dogs are exotic breeds such as the German Shepherd, Labrador, Belgian Malinois, and Cocker Spaniel. A Home Ministry official said, "The testing of the Indian dog breed Mudhol Hound has already been completed by the SSB and ITBP. Testing of some other Indian dog breeds like the Rampur Hound is also underway at the dog training centers of the CRPF and BSF. Used to be."

Besides this, the ministry has also ordered testing of Himalayan mountain dogs like Himachal Shepherd, Gaddi, Bakharwal and Tibetan Mastiff by the Border Security Force (BSF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) together. At present, their trial is going on. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already talked about promoting local dog breeds through scientific methods.

All dogs hired by the CAPF are part of the police service K9 squads. CAPFs that hire and train dogs for police duties are BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, NSG, and Assam Rifles. Police dogs are trained for tasks such as detecting explosives such as IEDs and mines, narcotics, and counterfeit currency, apart from patrolling and other tasks. The officer said that sometimes dogs are also used in search operations to locate terrorists.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has taken some important steps to strengthen the culture and ecosystem of mutual learning and cooperation between the CAPFs and other police and law enforcement organizations on the issue of PSK.

The CAPF, with around 4,000 dogs, is the largest user of police dogs in the country. Every year around 300 pups are hired by the CAPFs. The largest number of dogs in the CAPFs is with the Central Reserve Police Force (about 1,500). After this comes the Central Industrial Security Force (about 700). “The anti-terrorist organization National Security Guard (NSG) has around 100 dogs,” another officer said.

The K9 squad was set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2019 with the aim of streamlining the breeding, training, and selection of dogs as part of its police modernization program. "Interestingly, all combat dogs of the CAPFs are now practicing sniffing out suspects, narcotics, and hidden explosives, besides patrolling high-risk areas," the officer said.