CHENNAI: Ahead of the Independence Day week, hundreds of passengers boarding a train with bulky luggage might have been asking their porters to slow down: if their baggage has something that smells suspicious, chances are they’re being tailed by a Railway Protection Force (RPF) Doberman — docile and cute to look at but ruthless and duty conscious when at work — making his daily rounds. Especially after the capture of a .32 caliber pistol in a travelling security guard's luggage at the Chennai Central Railway Station, the RPF’s dog squad has stepped up their patrolling ahead of August 15.Similar to the city police’s dog squad, the RPF ensures regular upkeep of the furry members of their protection squad in kennels across the Chennai division --- Perambur, Tambaram and Katpadi. SR Gandhi, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Chennai division, says, “These dogs are used more as a preventive deterrent for explosives and to detect theft, and give us a sense of direction using their power of scent to guide us to where a thief may have escaped too.”A recent robbery case, three months ago saw railway cables worth thousands of rupees cut at several places in the Avadi area. Once on the job the ‘trackers’ are impeccable in finding a trace, Gandhi explained, “Our trackers not only led us to the location where we recovered the missing cables, but they also found a suspicious man loitering in the area, and after further investigation, it turned out that he was the culprit.”While ‘trackers’ are trained for crime detection such as stolen valuables and manhunts, ‘sniffers’ are targeted at identifying explosives even in a crowded station before any damage can be done. Such anti-sabotage checks and patrolling is carried out by the Railway dog squad every day at random intervals during peak hours of railway ‘traffic’.The breeds chosen for the task are all Indian bred, and include Dobermans, German Shepherd and Labrador retrievers. KS Damodaran, RPF Sub Inspector explains, “Each dog has a handler and they begin their training from the age of six months at the Pothanur Zonal Training Centre.” Asked about the training exercises, nothing too specific is revealed, lest the wannabe thieves and bomb planters get any wiser. However at a recent pet carnival earlier this month, audiences were privy to a demo of their skills which ranged from a low bow salute to the chief guests, bomb and drug detection from an array of briefcases on display and even jumping headfirst through hoops of fire.In fact, a few of the dogs on the squad have even gone on to win silver and gold medals at All India Police Duty Meets. Gandhi specifies, “For 80 per cent of our cases, our dog squad assists officials with clues and provides the initial direction of a search. But if, for instance, valuables have been stolen from a godown and we are informed more than 24 hours later, it is very difficult to trace the scent.” Still, the RPF remain confident that while they have help from their four legged recruits, solving railway crime is but a whiff and sniff away.
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