India will soon have its first four-legged gallantry award winner. The Union Home Ministry (MHA) has recommended the Defence Ministry to grant NSG canine Rocky a Sena Medal for its gallant action in the counter-terror operation at the Pathankot airbase in January.
If Rocky, a Belgian Malinois, gets the Sena Medal, he will be entitled to a monthly pension of Rs20,000 after completion of 10 years of service, an attendant/handler and a separate kennel. Normally, the canines are auctioned after completion of 10 years of service in the force.
Far off in France, recently a French police dog, Diesel, who died in November during a police raid on an apartment in a northern suburb of Paris after the terror attacks in the city, was awarded the Dickin Medal, described as the “supreme honour for gallantry”.
Rocky had sustained burn injuries while gathering evidence from the airmen’s billet at the airbase but has now recovered after undergoing treatment for a month and half and will be back in action soon.
The 34-kg Rocky is ferocious, scary and alert and was the first to be sent to smouldering rubble of the two-storey airmen’s billet that was blown up by the NSG with cannons to liquidate the two terrorists holed up inside it, recalled an official who was part of the operation at the Pathankot airbase.
He was sent inside the building 10 hours after it was blown up. The fearless dog dragged a pouch out of the gutted building after scouring the area for about 30 minutes.
The pouch, containing a grenade pin, belonged to one of the terrorists. Rocky’s action not only helped the NSG avoid risking the life of commandos but also helped ascertain that the holed-up terrorists were successfully neutralised, an official said, adding the canine suffered burns on its left legs when it was searching the area that was still burning due to the heavy stock of aluminium powder that the terrorists had stocked there.
Three-year-old Rocky, an assault-cum-sniffer dog, will be the first from his fraternity among all the security and defence forces to bag the coveted medal. The Sena Medal is awarded for “individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage”.
Rocky is a member of the K-9 dog squad of the elite counter terror agency National Security Guard (NSG) that led the operation against the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase on January 2.
Out of the seven security personnel martyred during the Pathankot operation, only Defence Security Corps (DSC) sepoy Jagdish Chand was awarded with the Kirti Chakra posthumously on the eve of the Republic Day this year. The Government has not even awarded bomb disposal squad chief lt Col EK Niranjan, who died during the Pathankot operation for a gallantry award.
NSG officials said Rocky has undergone training for 1.5 years and can hunt a target in hiding. This besides, it is also trained to sniff out hidden explosives The dog communicates through a nod of its head and not by barking as is a trait of the Malinois.
Officials said NSG dogs like Rocky are entitled for a monthly remuneration between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 and the amount is used to take care of the food and medical expenses. When decorated, Rocky will continue to enjoy the salary post retirement.
An NSG official said, “Rocky relishes rice and chicken for its meals. If it bags the Sena Medal, it will continue to be looked after well even after retirement including proper medical attention and its favourite meals.”
“The MHA (Union Home Ministry) has recommended Rocky for the Sena Medal as it helped the NSG commandos collect evidence at Pathankot during an ongoing gunbatlle and it also sustained burn injuries during the counter terror operation,” a ministry official said.
Earlier, the Defence and paramilitary forces used to shoot the retired or infirm dogs but the Supreme Court recently banned the cruel practice following pleas from NGOs and ordered rehabilitation of such canines.
Presently, the NSG has over a dozen Belgian Malinois dogs, a breed that is replacing other canine varieties in other paramilitary forces due to its agility and strength. Its olfactory sense is 40 times stronger than in human beings and can walk upto 35 km without a break unlike German Shepherds or labradors.
“The Malinois has attracted the attention of the security forces here after such a canine was reported to have helped a US Navy Seals team track down Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin laden at his hideout at Abottabad in Pakistani in May 2011.