Customs’ first canine training centre comes up at Attari

Constructed at a cost of ₹1 crore, the new centre has the capacity of training 20 canines at a time

The customs department on Saturday inaugurated its first centre to train dog squads on detection of narcotics, explosives, counterfeit currency and other contraband items at the Attari border in Amritsar.

Officials said it is a pilot project since the department is planning to open more such facilities in other parts of the country. As of now, the department has been using canine squads of security agencies like the Border Security Force (BSF) and the army.

The department officials have been facing problem when it comes to detect foreign currency, tobacco and other banned items as traffickers keep changing their modus operandi of smuggling.

Constructed at a cost of ₹1 crore, the new centre has the capacity of training 20 canines at a time. A dog takes eight months to be fully trained, said an official. Also, ₹6 crore more has been sanctioned for its upgrade.

The centre has a training ground furnished with modern equipment, a mess and a hostel for dog handlers besides a mess for dogs.

“Initially, we will train 11 canines here. We have plans to train 286 canines that will be deployed at 200 formations of the customs across the country. As of now, we have a total of 17 sniffer dogs,” said Ranjana Jha, chief commissioner of customs (preventive), Delhi zone.

“We have engaged two masters trainers for 11 dog handlers,” she added.

The dogs being trained at the centre are of labrador, cocker spaniel and German shepherd breeds.

“We used to get dogs from security agencies. The army trains its dogs for rough terrain, while the disaster management force does it for saving lives. But we deploy dogs mostly in air-conditioned buildings, including airports. The centre will train the dogs according to our requirements,” said Suresh Kishnani, chief commissioner of directorate of logistics.