17 Malinois warrior pups begin journey to be ITBP trained ‘cops’ IANS Exclusive)

By Rajnish Singh

New Delhi, Dec 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Ane-la, Galwan, Sasoma, Chip-chap and Saser are among 17 Malinois little pups whose formal journey to find a place in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) combat K9 wing began on Wednesday. Born a few months ago, the little warrior pups will be in action by 2021 end.

Srijap, Charding, Rezang, Daulat, Sultan-chusku, Imis, Rango, Yula, Mukhpri, Chung-Thung, Khardungi, and Shyok are among these eight females and nine male pups who were engaged in proper months-long training to make them a perfect "future combat cop".

They have now been formally handed over to their handlers after three months of their birth. For the next four months, they will be given basic obedience training. And in the next four months, they will be given advanced training.

An ITBP official, on condition of anonymity, told IANS that these 17 pups will be trained dogs in the next one year.

It all began with their 'Naamkaran Ceremony' held earlier in the day in Haryana, making history since independence when the K9 wing of the country will acknowledge its own legacy and ethos.

Getting historical names, mostly famous on the icy Ladakh frontier where the ITBP is deployed in border guarding since last six decades, the 17 boisterous pups would become complete ITBP 'troopers" in next one year to take on their heroic acts further.

These pups, who belong to an expert sniffer and assault dog breed being used for a decade in Maoist-hit areas by India's paramilitary forces, are the offsprings of ITBP dogs -- Gala the father and mothers Olga and Oleshya.

ITBP's serving dog Gala, who did anti-sabotage duty at all-weather Atal Tunnel inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rohtang in October, became 'father' of these 17 "warrior pups" in the same month.

Olga and Oleshya, who are siblings and five years old, gave birth to these pups in the elite National Training Centre for Dogs at Bhanu in Haryana's Panchkula. Olga gave birth to nine pups on September 30 while Oleshya had eight pups on October 4.

Both mothers are counter-insurgency grid veterans, having served in Chhattisgarh and are enjoying motherhood at the sprawling ITBP K9 Breeding Centre.

Junking the traditional western names for K9s, the ITBP has for the first time in any Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) history has given local names for cute little warrior pups of its famous K9 wing.

"The pups have been named as a respect of all the troops guarding the excruciatingly tough borders of the country.

A formal 'Naamkaran Ceremony' was held at National Training Centre for Dogs, ITBP BTC, Bhanu, Panchkula Haryana," ITBP Spokesperson Vivek Pandey told IANS.

With this initiative, Pandey said, instead of calling out to Cesar, Olga and Elizabeth, the ITBP dog handlers will now be proudly calling out to names that flows in their blood-- the very names of Himalayan points they guard in bone numbing high altitude terrain.

The force plans that the next batch of pups will be named after other prominent names of the icy frontiers where the ITBP is deployed covering the entire 3,488 km long border from Karakoram to Jechap La guarded by this elite outfit.

Explaining about the demand of this breed, another ITBP official said, the force has received requests from other CAPFs and state police for these pups to be used for their security duties.

ITBP was the first force to deploy Malinois dogs in Maoist-hit areas in 2009 to sniff out the hiding insurgents and detecting IEDs, helping the force in saving lives of various security personnel deployed in the region.

Now, the ITBP, has also started scientifically breeding K9s to meet own demands and provide pups to other CAPFs and state police forces as mandated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Malinois dogs have played key role in hunting down pan Al-Qaeda's founder Osama bin Laden, and more recently, Islamic State chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

Also known as Belgian Shepherds, the medium-sized herding dog breed from Belgium is known to be highly intelligent, alert and sensitive.

The ITBP also used these dogs for the security of then visiting US President Barack Obama, as well as for the security of all Indian missions in Afghanistan.

The 90,000-strong ITBP, which is one of the seven CAPFs of the country, has the primary task of protecting the 3,488 km India-China border as well performing a vital role in other assigned security roles.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)

Source: IANS