Army dogs have been the silent saviours for many a time. Deepti, a six year old labrador of the 19 Army Dog Unit of Gajraj Corps, is an expert in explosive detection. The dog, alongwith her handler, was working at the transit camp in Guwahati, an extremely busy place with people coming and going all the time. Deepti worked round-the-clock sniffing each and every luggage before allowing it inside the transit camp. She was also used for sanitising all suspicious luggage at the Guwahati Railway Station and, thus, became an indispensable asset to the security forces.

On May 7, last year at 1030 hrs, Deepti was pressed into service to identify an unattended package found at the Railway Reservation Counter. The dog, with its extremely high sense of smell, sniffed and immediately indicated the presence of explosive material in the package. The package which was later diffused by the Bomb Disposal Squad, contained a highly technical circulatory explosive device which had 28 gelatin sticks, timed to explode at 1300 hrs. The bomb, if not detected in time, could have
caused devastation, and would have resulted in collosal loss of life and property.

Army dog Deepti's excellent technical ability and dedication to duty was appreciated by the Assam Government. The GOC-in-C, Eastern Command also commended the act, and Deepti was recently awarded a citation and a medal.