A tracker dog, Raja, which served the Police Department for about six years, died of ill-health at the police headquarters here on Friday. Police officers of all ranks paid floral tributes to the canine.
Eluru Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police K.V. Mohan Rao said the tracker canine had helped the Krishna district police in detecting sensational cases.
Superintendent of Police M. Ravindranath Babu, Additional SP M. Sathi Babu, dog handler P. Ravi and other officers placed the wreaths and paid tributes to the animal at the police grounds. Officers consoled Mr. Ravi who was seen crying during the last journey of his pet animal.
Remaining dog handlers and the officers bid a tearful send off to the dog.
“Raja won silver medal during training at Moinabad in Hyderabad. The canine won bronze medal during the All India Police Duty Meet in 2015, and won first prize in refreshment course held in 2016,” Mr. Ravindranath Babu said.
The dog handler said that Raja used to be very active and clever in investigation and catching the suspects.
Urinary infection
“The canine suffered from urinary infection and we took it to the hospital. After observing the scan and X-ray reports, doctor prescribed medicines. Suddenly, the condition of Raja deteriorated and the animal breathed its last at 4. a.m. Raja used to follow the instructions of the handler strictly and give much respect to the officers,” Mr. Ravi recalled.
ASP Sathi Babu said the canine detected the sensational murder cases of Avanigadda, A. Konduru and Nuzvid police station limits.
Police fired into the air and paid official honours to the tracker dog. They saluted and mourned the death of the canine.
ASP (AR) Satyanarayana, Special Branch DSP Dharmendra, ST and ST Cell DSP Uma Maheswara Rao, CIs Chandrashekar and Venkata Narayana and others were among those who paid tributes to the police canine.
