Explained:Why is Kolkata police inducting Belgian Malinois that helped killed Bin Laden and Baghdadi

New Delhi, Feb 15: The Kolkata police earlier this week said that it would be Inducting the Belgian Malinois, the dog breed that helped track Osama Bin Laden.

The dog will be inducted into the specialised dog squad being set up to combat terror activities in Kolkata. Last year, the Mumbai Police had added this breed into its squad.

Tracking Osama Bin Laden:

The Belgian Malinois has played an important role in two major operations for the United States. First the dog was used to track down Osama Bin Laden. Conan another US military Belgian Malinois had played an important role in the raid that led to the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State chief. The dog has been described as an ultimate fighter by US President, Donald Trump.

Why is the Belgian Malinois effective:

This breed has visual and olfactory sensory abilities and can go where a soldier cannot. It is said that this breed can intimidate a foe faster using non-lethal force. It is due to these capabilities that the Belgian Malinois has been trained for years in the military.

The Indian scenario:

In October 2019, the Delhi police said it was recruiting five Golden Retrievers into its canine squad. These dogs brought from Hyderabad have been trained for six months by a centre run by the BSF in Madhya Pradesh. These dogs can detect any bomb or explosive.

Post the Mumbai 26/11 attack, the demand for bomb sniffing dogs rose very fast.

The CRPF has already inducted Belgian Malinois dogs. The Maharashtra Police has also written to the home department and the DGP to procure Belgian Malinois for Naxal-hit areas and for Force One, their elite team that deals with terror activities.

Belgian Malinois in Kolkata:

The main reason to introduce this breed is due to its ability to deal with any terror-like situation and "that has been proven in several incidents around the world", the officer said.

A new kennel for the 'attack dogs' is being set up near 'Nabanna', the state secretariat.
One of the dogs, trained outside the state, has already been inducted.

We had been planning to introduce them for quite sometime and now we have got the permission from the Home Ministry. These dogs will be trained by experts from outside the state, and will take a year before being inducted," an officer said.

The Kolkata Police already has a dog squad which is attached to its Detective Department.
The dog squad has 35 dogs of different breeds - Labrador, Doberman, German Shepherd, Beagle Rottweiler and Golden Retriever.

Already 10 German Shepherd dogs and two Labradors have been sent from a kennel in Hyderabad for the dog squad.