Stray dogs in Jharkhand are to be trained to guard banks and post offices.

Jharkhand police chief Shivaji Mahan Caire has suggested that banks should feed the stray dogs and make them friendly "so that they can move around the banks and post offices during and after office hours".

His order has been communicated to banks and post offices.

The communication follows guidelines by the central home ministry and Bureau of Police Research and Development that banks and post offices should keep licensed guards and dogs for safety, an official told IANS.
 
The dogs, it has been suggested, are particularly necessary for rural banks in view of the rising number of bank robberies by Maoist guerrillas.

This year, Maoists raided nine banks and looted Rs.1.5 million ($33,000). Last year the Maoists raided more than half a dozen banks and also abducted some bank officials.

--Indo-Asian News Service