Under Atmanirbhar Bharat, Assam Rifles to induct Indian breeds in its dog squad

NEW DELHI: Assam Rifles plans to induct Indian dog breeds into its squad as part of the central government’s push for indigenisation, a senior officer said on Thursday.

The country's oldest paramilitary force has already introduced the Tangkhul Hui breed from Manipur as a pilot project and will begin inducting the Kombai breed from Tamil Nadu in April. Full induction of both breeds is expected by March 2027, with training conducted at the Jorhat, Assam-based Rifles Dog Training Centre (ARDTC), which currently houses 104 dogs and 174 handlers in various stages of training.




“The Union home minister (Amit Shah) has always advocated Atmanirbhar Bharat across all fields. He also wanted more Indian breeds in the dog squads of all forces. Since then, we have been identifying indigenous breeds for our purposes,” Lt Col Alok Palei, Officer Commanding of ARDTC, told PTI.

Following a directive from the Union home ministry last year, Assam Rifles began looking for local breeds. Currently, the force has four breeds—Labrador, German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, and Tangkhul Hui—with six Tangkhul Hui inducted in 2022 as a pilot. All are disease-resistant and deployed in narcotics detection.

Assam Rifles has an authorised strength of 344 dogs but currently operates 253 across the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir, supported by over 1,200 trained handlers.

The ARDTC trains both dogs and personnel in basic handling, obedience, refresher, tracking, explosive detection, and narcotics detection courses. Selected handlers receive advanced training at CRPF Bengaluru and the Remount Veterinary Corps Centre in Meerut before returning as instructors.

Palei noted the dog squad played a key role in seizing a large narcotics consignment from Myanmar in September 2025. Plans are underway to expand the dogs’ operational roles to dual-purpose assault, explosive detection, and potentially search-and-rescue operations during natural disasters.