Chennai, May 22 (IANS): For the first time in the history of Tamil Nadu police, the Coimbatore city police have appointed two women constables as sniffer dog handlers.

The two cops -- Kavipriya (25) and Bhavani (26) -- are presently undergoing training to handle sniffer dogs.

Coimbatore city police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan told mediapersons, "I have decided to give opportunities to women police constables to become sniffer dog handlers, as till now this was done by only men cops."

Kavipriya has done her B.Sc in Physics besides doing B.Ed, and had undergone training at the Police Recruits School (PRS). She is posted with the Coimbatore city armed reserve police force.

While speaking to IANS, Kavipriya said that she has been a pet lover and while undergoing training at PRS, she had seen the abilities of dog detective squads.

She said that after she was posted in Coimbatore armed forces squad, senior officers asked whether any woman cop was interested in joining the dog detective squad and she immediately accepted the offer.

Bhavani hails from Theni in southern Tamil Nadu and has done her BA in English literature before doing her Bachelor of Physical Education (B.Ped). She told IANS that she is also a pet lover and had jumped to the opportunity when asked by the senior officers.

Kavipriya has been allotted a sniffer dog named Wilma, which is a trained tracking dog, while Bhavani is allotted a sniffer dog named Madhana, an expert in sniffing for drugs.

The two women cops are undergoing training at the Coimbatore city police commissionerate since May 1, and will be pressed into the dog detective squad after six months of training.