Sukma: A CRPF dog was injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.
Police said the dog accompanying soldiers during an anti-Naxal operation was injured after an IED exploded near Chhingelur village of Sukma district at around 1:30 pm on Wednesday. The right leg of three-year-old male Belgian Shepherd tracker dog Andro was fractured in the blast. The canine is being treated at a hospital in Bijapur district.
Police said Andro saved the lives of the personnel of 'Alpha' company of CRPF's 229th battalion during the operation. The soldiers were patrolling the area as part of an anti-Naxal operation. CRPF and other security forces extensively use trained dogs to sniff out IEDs and booby traps for operations in Left Wing Extremism affected areas of various states.
Two K9 teams from CRPF were sent to Paris as part of the 10 teams from various organisations selected to provide security to various venues of the upcoming Paris Olympics, 2024. K9s Vast and Denby, both Belgian Shepherd Malinois, aged five and three years, respectively, left for Paris on July 10 and reached the same day. The Belgian Shepherd Malinois breed is considered to be the most preferred combat dog by security forces worldwide. Vast and Denby were selected for the job after going through a series of stringent tests held at the Dog Breeding and Training School of CRPF. "They (Vast and Denby) also underwent specialised training for nearly 10 weeks before their deployment, focusing on the assignments they were likely to be given," the CRPF had stated.
