Somewhere on the LoC....

While elsewhere in the country stray dogs are considered a menace, in J&K they have become watchdogs for the Army against infiltrators.The Army is training stray dogs for help in detecting intruders and thus stop infiltration from across the border. The Line of Control (LoC) between Akhnoor and Sunderbani sectors is regularly used by infiltrators to cross fence. Though troops remains vigilant round-the-clock, there are some moments when fence remains attended, giving enough time to intruders to cross over. It is this gap that the Army hopes the dogs could fill. At least 25 infiltrators have been killed by security forces in August during encounters along LoC. Sources say most of these infiltrators are from terrorist outfits like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Al Badr and LeT. Col N K Airy, spokesperson of the Army’s 10 division, says: ‘‘We decided to the train the mongrels following shortage of pedigree dogs. They are smart and useful in this terrain.’’ Col Airy says the strays can recognise troops and civilians and starts barking whenever they observe any movement of strangers near the fence. ‘‘They cannot be identified by the infiltrators.’’ It is easy to train these dogs, which do not need special diet like the breeds. ‘‘They learn quickly with little training,’’ says Col Airy. The international border from Jammu to Chamb is guarded by the BSF. The LoC is guarded by the 10 division of the Army. The area is difficult to guard because of the terrain and the Chenab river that flow into Pakistan. ‘‘We have all the best possible means to stop the infiltration but these local dogs have emerged as an amazing security tool for us,’’ says a senior army officer. The Army has sophisticated gadgets like sensors, thermal imagers and advanced infantry weapons, but infiltrators find gaps to sneak in. Recently soldiers at Akhnoor sector found folded ladders near the high fence. On another occasion, troops detected a 50-metre long tunnel during a search at Chapriyal in the sector.