Not the militant’s best friend: BDU to take special care of sniffer dogs

Unit chief says canines more effective than machines, but need skilled trainers.

PESHAWAR: The provincial Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) has been asked to exercise extra care in maintaining its canine unit and to appoint an officer in charge, till which time the unit will be directly supervised by BDU Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Shafqat Malik.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a high-ranking police official said the sniffer dogs will be under extra care as they are an asset for the police force in the ongoing war on terror.

The official said BDU, which is a separate unit from the bomb disposal squad, is an integral part of the provincial police force and is being expanded. He added this is why IGP Nasir Khan Durrani, in fresh policy guidelines, has directed the Special Branch (SB) AIG to conduct a biannual performance audit, including the squad’s overall performance, individual status, statement of rewards and punishments, and state of equipment.

As part of the guidelines, Malik has been asked to submit a monthly report on the unit’s performance to IGP Durrani through the SB AIG’s office and carry out a quarterly inspection to be included in the report.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Malik said the new policy guidelines were a need of the hour.

“The animals we are acquiring are more effective in detecting explosives than machines, but at the same time it is more challenging to keep them physically fit and efficient in the absence of skilled staff,” said Malik.

“This is a re-organisation of the BDU. The first step was to make a separate unit from the bomb disposal squad and now we are trying to make it as efficient as possible to tackle terrorism head on,” he added.

Earlier in the week, a meeting of the Peshawar divisional task force directed the BDS to deploy at least four teams in the provincial capital and two each in every district of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2013.