Indian dog squads to patrol at venues of Paris Olympics

New Delhi: Ten specially-trained Indian CAPF and special commando force dogs are in France to provide a counter-terrorist and anti-sabotage security cover to various venues of the Paris Olympics slated to open next week, official sources said on Wednesday.

The ten Indian K9 (canine) teams will undertake sniffing and patrolling duties at various venues that will hold events for the Paris Olympics. They have been given a special 10-week training for this first-ever kind of collaboration of canine squads between the Indian and the French government, according to a security officer. The teams along with their handlers are drawn from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force apart from the federal contingency commando force National Security Guard (NSG) and the Assam Rifles.

The dogs are from the ferocious-looking Belgian Malinois breed which undertake infantry patrol and anti-sabotage sniffer tasks to detect bombs, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and trouble makers in various internal security theatres of the country like anti-Naxal operations and counter-terrorist operations, he said. A second officer said the handlers of these ten canine teams have undertaken refresher physical training apart from a special capsule of basics of the French language for the Olympics task.

The squad includes five-year-old CRPF canine Vast and three-year-old Denby. They have been chosen for this task after stringent tests conducted at the CRPF dog breeding and training school located on Taralu near Bengaluru, Karnataka, the second officer said. "The Belgian Malinois breed is considered to be the most preferred combat dog by security forces across the globe," he said.

The Malinois, a litter of an Israeli male Malinois crossed with an American bitch, shot to fame when it was reported that the dogs assisted US special forces in sniffing out Osama Bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad in Pakistan in 2011. The dog, which has a heavy snout and a big head, can detect suspicious human presence and IEDs with precision and it is intelligent enough to communicate these signals through a nod of its head and not by barking which could lead to alerting of the target.

The Indian dog teams will be deployed as per the requirements of the French Police and security agencies and this deployment is part of the security cooperation between the two countries, the first officer said. The handlers are donning their regular combat uniform with a special patch of the Indian flag on their chest and another on the shoulder provided to the security agencies deployed for the mega games event, he said.

According to international media reports, France is deploying around 30,000 police officers each day for the Olympics, which will be held between July 26 and August 11, with a peak of 45,000 for the opening ceremony on the Seine river. About 18,000 members of the military are also helping ensure security, including thousands housed in a huge, special camp erected on the edge of Paris, the reports said. India will be represented by 117 athletes at the Olympics apart from 140 support staff and officials.