KARACHI, Jan 13: The law enforcement agencies responsible for the security of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming procession on Oct 18 did not use sniffer dogs in their attempt to keep suicide bombers at bay, it has emerged.

Facts gathered from senior police officers, Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) personnel and Pakistan Rangers suggest that the authorities only used conventional methods to comb Sharea Faisal ahead of the procession of the former premier, which had never been effective to eliminate suicide bomb threats, which were warned of by the federal and provincial home ministries on Ms Bhutto’s return.

“Actually the BDS squad was there on Sharea Faisal to give clearance before the procession passed that area,” said an official on condition of anonymity. “The Karsaz area was also cleared by the BDS but the suicide bombers might have been on the move to avoid the BDS checks.”

However, he agreed that the sniffer dogs could have been the best tool to detect moving explosives, and in the procession like Oct 18’s, they could have proved more effective.

But, he added, the police did not have a single such animal despite rising threats of suicide bombings.

“Neither did police seek Rangers’ services, which have some eight such trained dogs capable of detecting explosives of any kind and in any form,” said the official. “The clearance for the bomb or explosive threats was the sole responsibility of police’s BDS, which was not capable of clearing each and every person in the moving procession, but trained sniffer dogs could operate in situations like those.”

The official’s comments matched a statement given by a senior officer of the Special Branch that the department had no equipment to detect suicide bombers in the crowd.

Before a tribunal investigating the Oct 18 Karsaz blasts, SSP Security Shahab Mazhar Bhalli said the BDS teams were not equipped with special instruments to detect humans carrying explosives.

Since the suicide bombing is considered as one of the most dangerous and unpreventable methods used by the terrorists for their targets, experts believe the current BDS setup being run under the Special Branch does not have the capacity to detect moving explosives.

“In huge processions and gatherings, effectiveness of trained sniffer dogs cannot be matched with other devices,” said a Rangers official. “Currently, in Karachi we have eight such dogs, which we use to clear Thar Express trains, processions of different kinds, international cricket matches, and on requests of different government organizations.”

However, he said, Rangers were not asked for the job on Oct 18, as they were only assigned the job of airport security, which they managed very well.

“We also use the dogs for VIP security and during visits of foreign sport teams to Karachi for sporting events,” he further explained, and disclosed that the level of protocol offered to the former premier was much below the VIP security merited.

He said the dogs could not only spot a human being carrying explosives in the crowd, but also had the ability to detect such devices five feet under the ground.

In such a situation, the question arises why the facility of sniffer dogs had not been acquired by police despite the threats and growing incidents of terrorism, including suicide bombings.

The question remained unanswered as no relevant official of police’ Special Branch could be contacted to seek an explanation despite several attempts. However, sources maintained that the department had taken several such initiatives in the past, but the red tape scuttled them.

“Recently there was a proposal to acquire such a facility (trained sniffer dogs) and a team of senior police officers kept liaison with Rangers officials for some time in this regard, but it came to an end without achieving any results,” said a source close to the top police hierarchy.