Punjab government will deploy sniffer dogs at prisons to curb the inflow of drugs into the jail premises.
"Under the pilot project, eight such sniffer dogs, mostly Labradors, have been inducted into the police force and dispatched to Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, for special training," state's Jail Minister Sohan Singh Thandal said here today.
The dogs will undergo special training of 32 weeks commencing tomorrow, he said.
He said that after training, these sniffer dogs would be deployed at Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda, Patiala, Nabha, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur and Jalandhar Central jails.
Thandal said that the use of sniffer dogs has been prevalent world-over at sensitive places to detect explosive material and drugs. "Similarly, the state government has decided to deploy sniffer dogs at jails," he said.
"After the success of this pilot project, sniffer dogs will be deployed at all the jails in Punjab," he said.
Thandal said for the upkeep of these dogs, 16 police personnel and four caretakers have also been deployed at Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur.
The minister said that these sniffer dogs would mainly be deployed at Central Jails and their services will also be taken for surprise search operation for drugs and mobiles phones.
Earlier this month, Punjab government had dismissed a Head Warder, posted at Jalandhar Central jail, for allegedly supplying drugs to inmates.
Even outside the jails, the drug problem in Punjab has assumed alarming proportions.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has said that rehabilitation centres for drug de-addiction in 22 districts of the state will be made operational within three months.
