Uri, Nagrota Expose Security Flaws; Army Says It Can’t Afford Dogs

Even as Uri and Nagrota exposes security lapses, the Army admits that it can’t afford guard dogs to track terrorists

Army stumps representatives of a parliamentary panel by stating that it can’t afford dogs for manning purposes. (Photo: Harsh Sahani/ The Quint)

Under fire and embarrassed over the back-to-back high profile attacks on its installations, the Army is mulling going back to the basics with ferocious sniffer and guard dogs to help soldiers keep an eye at the LoC and other sensitive areas.

Although the use of canines has been quite prevalent in the Army, these dogs are usually used by the bomb squad or by the road opening parties (RoP) to sniff around for explosives.

But with the recent high profile attacks like Pathankot, Uri and Nagrota, there is a growing clamour within security planners that perhaps in the quest for technology, the Army overlooked the utility and smelling prowess of well-bred guard dogs.

Also Read: Nagrota Attack: Anti-Terror Training Is the Chink in Army’s Armour

Failure of Human Intelligence

“After we probed the Uri incident, we found foliage inside the sentry post which means the bunker was hardly used. If we had enough trained ferocious Rottweilers or German Shepherds I am sure they would have picked up the smell of intruders from a distance and warned the soldiers,” says a senior Army officer posted in North Kashmir.

In numerous brainstorming sessions post these attacks, senior officers have rued the failure of human intelligence as well as inability of lasers and high tech surveillance equipment as far as the attacks were concerned.

Army Can’t Afford Professional Dogs

Interestingly, in a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs held earlier this month, the opposition MPs asked the government what led to the Nagrota attack. Such an incident shouldn’t have taken place given that the decision on demonetisation had been taken with the plea that it would dry up the fund flow to militant organisations.

According to a news report, the MPs grilled senior officers of the Army as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs over the attack. On the question of using canines in the border areas, the Army stumped everyone in the meeting when it said that dogs like the Bull Mastiff and the German Shepherd could not be used in these areas as they were too expensive.

A good Bull Mastiff pup does not cost more than Rs 30,000-40,000 and a German Shepherd pup usually comes even cheaper- priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000.

Deploying Canines to Man the LoC

The Army planners say that well-trained dogs could man the LoC along with soldiers in a far more efficient manner than any technology.

“The dogs can smell from a distance. They can be trained to attack too in a stealthy manner. I wonder what’s keeping our bosses from getting the best attacking dogs in the world,” says another Army officer who is serving in Kashmir.

Lt Gen (R) Syed Ata Hasnain, former GOC of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps says that use of tracking dogs could strengthen the overall security. However, this was not the only step that had to be taken to make the whole surveillance system foolproof as there were many more things which needed to be taken into consideration.

There are different kinds of sniffer dogs which include mine and explosive detecting dogs and they have been very helpful in Kashmir, especially in areas like Rajouri and other sectors. But yes there is shortage of tracker and catch dogs in the Army.

Lt Gen (R) Syed Ata Hasnain

The former GOC further said that the Army needed to strengthen the intelligence network and protect the areas surrounding military catchment areas.

To avert attacks like Uri or Pathankot in future, the security establishment has to equip itself with the latest electronic surveillance system and has to check the reaction time. Only then will the whole system be streamlined.

Lt Gen (R) Syed Ata Hasnain

(The author is a freelancer and has worked earlier with New Delhi based Newzstreet Tv. He can be reached @mubashirbukhari. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

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