Sniffing Out The Problems: Dog Squads Added To Prison Security

The Delhi Prisons officials plan to “raise” their dog squad and give them professional training at CRPF, ITBP, BSF, and Delhi Police centers.

According to the Tihar jail officers, the investigations have also shown that sometimes family members of prisoners smuggle the banned items into the jail.

New Delhi: Because of a rise in the smuggling of drugs into the high-security Tihar jail in Delhi, the prison authorities plan to deploy a dog squad to curb the menace.

According to a senior official, plans are proceeding to introduce a four-member dog squad for the Tihar jail. Subsequently, it will be extended to Rohini and Mandoli jails in the national capital.

Following the training, these will be deployed in the first such industry at the Tihar jail. It has reported examples of inmates carrying drugs and tobacco inside their stomachs and vomiting them before reaching the prison.

Research has also shown that sometimes family members of prisoners smuggle the banned items into the jail, said the official. Soon meetings will be held to work out the modalities for the project roll-out.

Director General (Delhi Prisons) Sandeep Goel said, “We are planning to raise our own dog squad. We may start with four dogs. The dog will be procured and provided full training along with handlers.”

The thought of having a dog squad was also mooted in 2012 but rejected due to its non-feasibility. Those who have seen the jail premises at close quarters say that dog squads can mostly sniff out objects seeded in the ground, and prisoners are unlikely to hide drugs there.

Dog squads of the officer have visited the Tihar jail complex whenever there have been examples of escape of criminals. However, Sunil Gupta, who had acted as the Tihar jail’s law officer for 35 years until his retirement in 2015, said this would be “just a cosmetic” exercise.