New Delhi: A new crack force is ready to take on the insurgency in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. Unlike regular military forces who are used to smoking out militants from jungles and training camps, this new force will sniff out the terrorists down to their hazardous hideouts.
The Indian Army has raised a 12,000-strong Dog Army comprising specialised canine breeds like German Shepherd and Belgian Shepherd to beat the insurgents on their own turf.
Insurgents operating in the north-eastern region and the Naxal belt have been trying to outwit the Army and the paramilitary forces by using jungle warfare tactics and setting up camps in difficult terrains, for which the security forces have few specialised troops available.
The Dog Army will also help the security forces in a big way by sniffing out explosives and mines.
Army sources say the idea to raise a special Dog Army was floated after its trained dogs achieved remarkable success in various anti-militancy operations. Once the proposal got the clearance of the Army top brass, the Dog Unit was raised over a period of months.
The Dog Army is already in place as part of the Army setup and it will now lead all counter-insurgency missions around the country.
Out of a total of 85 units of the Dog Army, 15 units are being deployed in the Northeast, 35 units will operate in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest in the Naxal-infested areas under the Western and Southern Army Commands.
As many as 20 units of the Dog Army have also been deployed all along the 743 kms long Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Each of these units comprises 24 trained dogs.
The Dog Army consists of 12,000 specialised canine breeds, mostly Labradors, German Shepherds and Belgian Shephard dogs, which were raised in special RVC breeding kennels in Meerut.
The Army claims the success rates of its operations against the militants have shot up with the use of these dogs. "Now, virtually every Army unit deployed in counter insurgency operations has a unit of these dogs," Army sources said.
Labradors now lead all anti-militancy and road-opening missions in Jammu and Kashmir. The German Shepherd and Belgian Shepherd dogs, on the other hand, form the bulwark of the mine and explosive hunting missions.
These dogs have even proved life savers for the forces in many instances as they have led patrols to deeply dug in mines in North-East as well as in Jammu and Kashmir.
"It is this success that there is virtually a clamour from para-military forces for such trained dogs in carrying out anti-Naxal operations in the country's heartland," PTI quoted an Army official as saying.
The specialised dogs have even won Shaurya Chakras and as many as 29 special commendations from the Chief of the Army Staff, while for their handlers they have won three times more such coveted awards.
By their merit, the dogs have even won overseas assignments, with almost all the 8,560 Indian troops deployed in UN Peacekeeping missions sporting three to four Dog Units.
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