NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday condoled the death of Army's "canine soldier" Dutch, credited with successfully sniffing out explosives during several military operations.
"The Raksha Mantri has expressed his condolences at the death of 'Dutch' a 'Canine Soldier' who recently died after serving the Army and the nation for years," tweeted the Office of Defence Minister.
"Dutch was a decorated dog of #EasternCommand who was instrumental in identifying IEDs in various CI/CT Ops (sic)," it added.
Nine-year-old Dutch, a labrador, died due to natural causes on September 11 and the memorial service was held at the Tezpur-based 19 Army Dog Unit in Assam.
"#ArmyCdrEC condoles the death of 'Dutch' a 9 yr old ED dog who died on 11 Sept. He was a decorated dog of #EasternCommand who was instrumental in identifying IEDs in various CI/CT Ops. A real hero in service to nation. #Salute @adgpi @SpokespersonMOD," (sic) the Eastern Command of the Army had tweeted on Saturday.