Delhi Metro services were suspended on March 22 and will resume in a calibrated manner from September 7 under the Unlock 4 guidelines. According to Business Standard, the entry will be restricted both at the stations and inside the coaches with only a certain number of passengers allowed. The DMRC and CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) will ensure regular temperature checks and also take care of the security at the stations.
For the security detail, the CISF has inducted Polo, a Belgian Malinois dog in its squad. Unlike other members of the K9 squad (Labradors, German Shepherds, and Cocker Spaniels), Polo has 2 handlers and can perform 3 tasks – sniff, attack, and guard. Zee News reports that the same breed is deployed at the White House and also tracked down terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Delhi: Canine squad of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that includes a Belgian Malinois dog to guard Delhi Metro that resumes service from September 7. Rajendra Pilania, Chief of CISF K9 says,"The Belgian Malinois dog will be deployed in the most sensitive area." pic.twitter.com/gFPc8jkutq
— ANI (@ANI) September 1, 2020
Hindustan Times quoted K9 team head Inspector Rajender Pilania saying,
“He is totally different from others because of his agility, attacking skill, and sniffing sense. He belongs to the same breed which was used in an operation to eliminate Osama Bin Laden. He can walk almost 40 kilometres while other dogs can walk up to 4-7 kilometres. He can attack also in case of any terror attack and has outstanding sniffing sense. He will be most likely to be deployed at major metro stations like Rajiv Chowk, Kashmiri gate, etc while we can use him in theft cases too. Polo is completely different from others.”
Maybe we’ll get to see Polo in action when we take the metro someday.