Chamarajanagara: The Forest Department sniper dog Jhansi, which was a nightmare for forest thieves in Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve died in a road accident, recently.
The dog which was great at detecting forest crimes died untimely.
The Forest Department officials have informed that a complaint has been filed in Chamarajanagara East Police Station in this regard. According to officials, Jhansi was chased by a stray dog on the road opposite the Punjanur Range Forest Office and died after being hit by a lorry.
Jhansi had undergone rigorous training for about six months in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP). Forest Department guard Basavaraju was given handler training to look after Jhansi. Jhansi was trained in bomb detection, smell detection of criminals and objects, and agility in chasing criminals.
Many dogs and handlers participated in this training. One dog each was given to Southern and Western Railways and one each given to Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha , Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu Forest Departments.
Accordingly, Jhansi was included in the BRT Tiger Reserve in Karnataka. In November 2021, Jhansi, who came to the Forest Department Office, was standing in front of the then Tiger Project Director Santhosh Kumar. As soon as the handler instructed, Jhansi displayed her perceptive powers and saluted the officer. This video is still on Twitter account of BRT Forest Department. However, there is no condolence post for Jhansi, who died a few days ago.
Earlier, the dog ‘Rana’ was a nightmare for poachers in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Many tough criminal cases were detected. It helped arrest the poachers. It also showed its acumen by participating in the capture of wild animals. Even though it was on the brink of retirement, Rana had done excellent service. Similarly, Jhansi was expected to be the future hope of BRT as there were no trained dogs for this forest till now. This was the first time Jhansi had arrived that the BRT got dog strength. Before even serving the department Jhansi died in an accident.
