Tracker canine ‘Boss’ turns heads at All India Police Duty Meet in Nagpur

Nagpur: Boss, an 8-year-old fawn-coloured Labrador who is a tracker canine with Prayagraj police in Uttar Pradesh, has impressed everyone with his sharp scent detection and tracking skills at the ongoing 69th All India Police Duty Meet in Nagpur. Boss, who joined the force in 2019, is known as a ‘murder detection specialist' who has helped crack more than six homicide cases with amazing accuracy. The canine had hogged the limelight during Mahakumbh in Prayagraj last year, where he patrolled tirelessly to keep criminals at bay from the massive religious congregation.In the famous Dhumanganj triple-murder case in UP, he sniffed a discarded knife, entered a house, climbed onto the suspect's bed and pinned down the killer — the man who murdered his father, sister and niece. Cops rewarded Boss with Rs2,000 on the spot for the detection. More than 1,300 personnel and 144 police dogs from 29 teams, including paramilitary forces like CRPF, BSF and ITBP across the country, are participating in the police meet. Boss has performed beyond expectations at the police meet, said his handler, head constable Ajay Kumar. Uttar Pradesh Police are hopeful that the Labrador will bring home a medal before the event concludes on April 3.The national event, inaugurated by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on March 29 at Shivaji Stadium, features competitions in six areas to sharpen modern policing skills like cyber awareness, forensics and anti-sabotage. The event is jointly hosted by Nagpur police under CP Ravinder Singal and state CID under Addl DG Sunil Ramanand and DGP Sadanand Date.The Maharashtra Police teams brought laurels at several events on the second day. The state's police dog unit gave an impressive performance at SRPF Group 4 premises in Hingna. Narcotics Detection Dog ‘Suchak', handled by constables Sachin Bhosale and Dattatray Chavan, won gold. Tracker Dog ‘Tyson', handled by constables Ramchandra Jadhav and Sadiq Pathan, bagged silver.In scientific aid to investigation (Fingerprint Practical and Oral Test), woman police inspector Sima Gaikwad from Maharashtra secured gold. Karnataka's Lohit LS bagged silver and Kerala's Fathil Rahman won bronze.In other events, ITBP dominated computer awareness, with constable Sunil Kumar winning individual gold and the ITBP team taking the top prize. CRPF's assistant sub-inspector Rajesh Kumar Sharma won gold in anti-sabotage check, while Telangana police won team gold. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) excelled in police photography, with Syed Hussain winning individual gold and the team securing first place.