A German Shepherd police tracker dog received the "Jasamu Dikenang" (appreciation) award from the Pahang police contingent.

The dog named "Lao Wu" received the medal from Pahang police chief Abd Jalil Hassan, who was represented by his deputy, Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri, at the Pahang police contingent headquarters monthly assembly yesterday.

At the ceremony, Mohd Yusri presented the medal to Lao Wu's trainer, Sgt S Sanmugam, who put it around the dog’s neck.

Sanmugam said the five-years and eight-months-old Lao Wu received the award for tracking down a vehicle theft suspect who had fled more than four kilometres at an oil palm plantation in Felda Sungai Tekam, Jerantut on Nov 14 last year.

Earlier, police had shot the suspect in the leg while trying to flee during Ops Lejang in the area.

“We began the search operation for the suspect who was believed to have been injured at 1.45 am. Just 50 metres in, Lao Wu found a blood-stained T-shirt left behind by the suspect after wiping the blood on his leg.

“Lao Wu was so eager to look for the suspect that I was left behind. I tripped and fell twice due to the dark surroundings and uneven ground before we reached a house in the plantation,” he said.

“The owner of the house said an injured man had come for help but fled when the owner wanted to contact the police," he told Bernama when met at the Pahang police contingent headquarters K9 unit.

Sanmugam said Lao Wu then took the police team back to the oil palm plantation where they spotted a river around 4 am.

He said Lao Wu swam across the river leading the police to the other side where they found bloodstains at 6am.

"Lao Wu had several times exited the plantation to the road nearby before returning back.

“Lao Wu continued to guide us to a house and eventually we found the suspect in the backyard at 10.45 am in a weak condition. He begged me not to let go of the dog.

"The suspect admitted to having gone to the road several times, waiting for his friend to come and pick him up but he was forced to go back to the plantation as his friend did not show up,” said Sanmugam.

He said he has handled Lao Wu, which was acquired from China, since 2015 and it is his fourth detective dog in his 29 years of service with the K9 unit. - Bernama