Shaktiman's colleagues get spl ITBP training in mob control

Even as Uttarakhand Police horse 'Shaktiman' recuperates from a fractured leg, a batch of his 20 colleagues are undergoing a gruelling three-month training at the ITBP academy near here to learn special skills of keeping protesters at bay during law and order duties.
A contingent of 20 horses and 30 handlers from Uttarakhand Police came from Dehradun in January this year to the National Equine Training School (NETS) at the forces' Bhanu camp for learning special skills and techniques of crowd control, mob dispersal and patrolling in mountainous terrain. The trainers of the border guarding force--Indo-Tibetan Border Police-- will be training the animals.

Officials said the police horses like 'Shaktiman' were sent to the academy here on a request by Uttarakhand government to Union Home Ministry last year.
He said the horses--Akbar, Sultan, Altamas, Naaz, Nawab, Neelam, Angoori, Raka, Mandakini, Diana and Julie among others are around the same age group as 13-year-old 'Shaktiman' and are being given special training to render duties in the hill state for effective upkeep of law and order duties as part of the mounted police unit of the state.
'Shaktiman' was recently operated upon after he broke his leg in an attack by a BJP MLA during a protest march in Dehradun on March 14.

The horses, unlike 'Shaktiman' who was without any body armour, are being trained by providing them partial body cover which is required to keep them safe while rendering duties during protests and other similar policing duties when mounted police is called in to deal with protests.

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The trainers are also imparting the handlers in keeping their horses happy and understand their vital body language like hunger, pain and anger.
"The horses and their handlers are also imparted some skills as used by the famed Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A total of 30 handlers are being trained against 20 horses so that they can be rotated while being on long or back-to-back duties," they said.

The NETS of the ITBP is part of the National Training Centre for Dogs and Animal Transport for training police dogs and their trainers in the country.