All hopes are now pinned on the rescue dog Storm, who arrived ton Monday afternoon in Wayanad in Kerala to join the ongoing rescue operation.

The German shepherd dog, aged about five years, was chosen by the dog squad team following a request from the Kerala Team.

Dhiren Kumar Biswal, along with four others from Odisha police, is part of the team that has accompanied the dog to Kerala. Biswal told The Telegraph, “We’re quite hopeful we will share some good news in the coming days. The German shepherd dog known as “Storm” during its career has never failed us. He is the gem of all dogs known for high-yield success.”

Storm is part of the most revered K-9 Dog squad, based in Berhampur in southern Odisha. While all the canines are trained to detect theft, murder, and explosive cases, the five-year-old male German Shepherd is an expert in search and rescue operations to trace the deceased and the debris survivors.

Biswal said: “Like his name Storm, the German Shepherd is expected to be deployed on duty from early morning. Track dogs are given a scent of suspects, but search and rescue operations can smell different types of human odour in the air. They can smell it from the debris. We are hopeful that it will succeed in sniffing out the bodies from the debris in the land hit.”

The dog has already received training from the Border Security Force (BSF) too. While Odisha mourned the death of Dr Bishnu Prasad Chinara, whose dead body was brought from Kerala, the body of another doctor, Swadhin Panda, is yet to be traced as rescue teams are racing against time to find out the survivors in the landslide-hit areas of Wayanad. Swadhin Panda, hails from the Jajpur district of Odisha.

Dr Bishnu Prasad Chinara and his wife Priyadarshini and Dr Swadhin Panda and his wife Swikruti went to Bengaluru together on July 26. After celebrating Bishnu’s birthday on July 27 in Bangalore, they went to Wayanad and reached there on July 29. All of them were swept away in the landslide. However, both Priyadarshini and Swikruti were rescued. The whereabouts of Dr Swadhin Panda are yet to be ascertained.

Swadhin Panda’s uncle Chandra Sekhar Panda, an advocate, said: “We received his last call last Monday around 10.30pm. He said there was heavy rain, and they planned to cancel the Kerala trip. But everything changed that night when the landslide hit the area and caused large-scale devastation.”

Chandra Sekhar Panda said: “Swadhin’s sister has been camping in Kerela at the site to trace him. We are waiting for a miracle, but given the magnitude of the devastation, finding life beneath the huge debris is very challenging. We are in touch with the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) on the issue.”