A posse of Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police personnel were on Platform No 5 on Wednesday night of Madurai junction.

The security personnel were involved in a massive combing operation on the platform. Just then, Chandigarh-Madurai Express train had chugged into the junction.

The team had set their eyes on the general second class coach on the front portion of the rake, looking for anti-social elements in the train and among the hundreds of passengers who had alighted on the platform.

The security personnel found one particular man moving in a suspicious manner. He was pulling a trolley and carrying a shoulder bag on the platform.

Just as the security personnel tried to approach him for an enquiry, the RPF sniffer dog Eric gave enough hints to the security personnel immediately after sniffing his belongings.

A man from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh was rounded up.

Upon checking his belongings, the RPF personnel found him in possession of 10 polythene bundles that were wrapped with adhesive tapes.

The man was immediately taken to the RPF post. Closer checking revealed that the bundles had concealed dry ganja weighing around 20.500 kg.

The accused was immediately handed over to GRP personnel for further proceedings.

“The role of the sniffer dog, Belgion Malinois, played a vital role in catching the accused,” said an RPF officer.

The two-year-old male dog had been trained on sniffing narcotics substances. And Eric just nailed the accused.

“Upon finding the drugs, the dog would bark continuously or pull his belongings or just sit near it without moving, thus giving enough hint to its handler about the contraband,” he added.

It is highly impossible to make every suspicious passenger to open their bags or suitcases during checks.

“While it is a laborious task to open baggage of every suspicious person as all of them will be on the move. Besides, asking every one of those suspicious person to open the baggage would invite their wrath,” said another official.

In this context, the trained sniffer dog come to the aid of the security personnel.

“Eric’s smart work made light of our job in pinpointing the criminal element among hundreds of passengers,” the officer said.

RPF also has got two more sniffer dogs that are trained to detect explosive objects. Austin and Vetri, the Labrador breed, are often pressed into duty to sniff through hundreds of luggage and parcels.

Published - July 17, 2026 11:12 pm IST