SOG men, who helped polling team evade Reds, to be felicitated

Koraput: They are masters of jungle warfare but the courage they displayed on Thursday was not only exemplary, it strengthened the country’s democratic process. For this, the 40-odd special operation group (SOG) personnel — who prevented 36 polling officials of six booths from falling prey to the Maoist and ensured their safe return with EVMs and other election materials in Red-hit Malkangiri district — will be felicitated.
“The SOG men involved in the operation will be felicitated for their act of bravery,” said R P Koche, ADG (Operations).

The SOG personnel — members of Odisha Police’s elite counter-insurgency force — were called for help minutes before the polling officials were scheduled to leave their respective booths after the end of voting, as intelligence inputs revealed that the Maoists had laid an ambush on the main road connecting Mudulipada with Khairaput, said SP (Malkangiri) Jagmohan Meena. “With the recent attack of the Maoists in neighbouring Dantewada in Chhattisgarh fresh in our minds, we instantly decided that the polling parties would have to be taken to safety using a cross-country route,” Meena added.

As soon as the alternate route — which went through thick forests and hillocks — was decided, the two SOG teams deployed in the forests of Mudulipada since April 9 for combing operations against the Maoists took over the operation. What made their work on Thursday even more challenging was that not only did they have to be on their guard for any Red offensive — a task they are well-trained for — they had to accompany civilian officials unused to trekking for miles in hilly terrain.

“Our men are trained to face extremely hostile conditions in forests for days together. But never ever have they faced such a situation with a group of civilians. It was challenging but we were confident of pulling it off,” said DIG (south western range) Himanshu Lal.

The weather gods were not with the team. The SOG men who left Mudulipada — a part of the Chitrakonda assembly segment — with the poll officials around 5 pm had hardly covered a few miles when it began raining heavily, accompanied by gusty winds.

It was when they were on the top of a hill that they decided to call it a night. Not only did the SOG personnel have to share their limited stock of dry food and water with the civilians, they had to ensure the safety of the EVMs, carry the officials’ luggage and keep them motivated. “While the polling parties were asleep at night, our men stayed awake and alert,” the SP added.

The route the SOG men followed was GPS-tagged and they shared information about their movement to the headquarters through VHF and satellite phones. “The entire operation was so meticulously planned that the Maoists didn’t get an inkling of it,” he further said, adding: “We spent a sleepless night as forces with the poll officials were inside the forest, 70 kilometres from the district headquarters of Malkangiri.”

A separate team of SOG men was kept ready at the headquarters for any emergency but they were not called on as the polling officials reached Malkangiri safely at 11 am on Friday.

The exercise reminded many, including chief electoral officer Surendra Kumar, of the film ‘Newton’. “The Newtons of Odisha. Entire ECI family is proud of the exemplary courage and commitment to duty shown by our polling officials,” the CEO tweeted.

Owing to Maoists’ threat, the Malkangiri administration had clubbed six polling booths of Mudulipada and Andrahal panchayats at Mudulipada High School.