KADAPA: Be it a missing case, temple theft or murder, a squad of Kadapa district police has been a part of the investigation of all of them. What makes it stand out is that the squad does not have any human personnel, but 10 canines who have been solving crimes in the district for the past seven years.The canine squad played a crucial role in solving the missing case of a boy and a girl who went missing under Porumamilla police station limits on August 14, 2017; and murder cases under Simhadripuram police station limits on March 14 last year, under Pendlimarri police station limits on August 29 last year, and under Ramapuram on November 14 last year.
The police dogs sniffed out the culprits in a burglary case that took place in Chinna Chowk of Kadapa town on June 2 of this year, and temple theft case under Khajipet police limits on February 12.
“We have one of the best canine squads in the country which has been playing a crucial role in solving different types of cases. Besides their contribution in solving the crimes, the dogs also have topped many competitions. Recently, in refresher courses for police dogs held in Mangalagiri, Lucy, a labrador, bagged the title of the State’s second best sniffer dog in the ‘tracing explosives’ category. We are confident the success will continue for years to come,” said KKN Anburajan, Kadapa SP.
Not just Lucy, Don and Waga also proved their mettle not only in state-level but also at national-level duty meets. In 2014, Don bagged gold in tracking at national-level while Waga bagged silver in explosive detection. Both the dogs bagged the overall championship at Kurnool Range Duty meet held in December 2020. Members of canine squad of Kadapa police have also participated in All India Duty Meets in 2017 at Chandigarh and in 2019 at Mysore and stood as one of the best performers.
Kadapa police officials said the squad is an inseparable part of the clues team and also has been playing an important role in anti-red sander smuggling operations in the district, besides being part of the security detail of VIPs and VVIPs during their visits. Out of the 10 members of the squad, five are engaged in explosive detection, two are tracker dogs and the other three are engaged in anti-red sander smuggling operations.
The squad comprises of seven labradors, two german shepherds and one Belgian Malinois. All of them along with their handlers underwent strict training of eight months before being engaged in active duty.
Canine squad bags award at national-level
In 2014, Don bagged gold in tracking at national-level while Waga bagged silver in explosive detection. Both the dogs bagged the overall championship at Kurnool Range Duty meet held in December 2020. Members of canine squad have also participated in All India Duty Meets in 2017 at Chandigarh and in 2019 at Mysore