Soon, dog squad to give final nod to flyers at IGI

NEWDELHI:SOON, your check-in at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport will not be complete unless a sniffer dog gives you clearance.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is raising a squad of canines, which will sniff every passenger for narcotics and explosives when they line up for security check-in.

According to senior officers, the dog squad will mostly comprise Labradors, German Shepards and recently bought Golden Retrievers. At present, the CISF at Delhi airport has 24 dogs, which are used to trace explosives. A special unit from these will be trained to trace both explosives and narcotics.

“The handler of these dogs will move parallel to passengers who queue up for their security check-in at the pre-embarkation security clearance area. The dogs will sniff every passenger, maintaining a safe distance. Over suspicion, the dog will hint its han- dler and the passenger will be asked to step out for detailed frisking,” said a senior officer who did not wish to be named.

The CISF has adopted this practice from their counterparts at Dulles airport in Washington DC. “A team of CISF officers had visited Washington DC on an education tour. We learned about some of their practices, which we will try to implement in Delhi if applicable. Clearance from dogs is one of the practices adopted from the tour,” the officer said.

Assistant Inspector General Hemendra Singh said things are still under progress. “Once started, this will add to the multilayered security system at the airport and will be an additional deterrent to smuggling,” Singh said. Officers said these dogs will be trained to sniff a variety of narcotics substances, from brown sugar to heroin and MDMA.

“During our training , we have found that dogs have a higher accuracy rate. Even in cases of emergency, we try to get a final nod by the dogs,” said the officer.