Abbreviation SOG Employees 1,370 | Formed 2004 Operations jurisdiction* State of Odisha, India | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency General nature Law enforcement
Local civilian agency | ||
The Special Operation Group is a special paramilitary unit in the state of Odisha which specializes in anti-insurgency operations.
Contents
Creation
The SOG was formed in August 2004 on the order of the Government of Odisha (Home department) with the objective of neutralising any terrorist, insurgent, extremist or illegal armed groups operating in Odisha.
Organisation and role
The SOG originally had 462 regular active posts. But, by 2009 it had grown to 1,370 personnel.
It does not recruit personnel directly, instead the personnel are drawn from various state police units and the assignments are based on tenures with a maximum period of 3 years. It also allows hiring of operatives from the armed forces, central paramilitary forces and police units of other states. They receive training at a special school in Chandaka and also from the army base in Jabalpur.
The main role of the SOG is counter-insurgency operations. But, handling hostage situations and hijackings also come under its responsibility. It works closely with the Special Intelligence Wing of the Odisha Police.
2007
In December 2007, SOG helped in bringing the ongoing religious violence under control.
2008
On 15 February 2008, a SOG assistant commandant Pramod Kumar Satapathy was martyred while leading an operation against Maoists near Bhubaneswar. On 21 February 2008, the Government of Orissa announced a compensation of ₹5 hundred thousand to the family of slain Pramod Kumar Satapathy. Pramod Kumar Satapathy was awarded the Ashoka Chakra posthumously on Republic Day, 26 January 2009.
On 18 February 2008, 20 Maoists were killed during a combing operation in the border area of Nayagarh, Ganjam and Kandhamal district. 3 SOG personnel were also martyred in the battle. On 16 July 2008, a van carrying SOG personnel was ambushed in Malkangiri district and 17 personnel were martyred in a landmine explosion.
2009
On 16 February 2009, a dozen SOG personnel were injured when a landmine exploded under their vehicle in Gajapati district. On 12 April 2009, about 200 Maoists attacked a CISF armoury and an explosive storehouse at a NALCO mine in Koraput. There were 100 NALCO workers at the site and they were locked up in the cafeteria but they were unharmed and were later freed by SOG personnel. The armoury and explosive storehouse were looted. 11 CISF men and 4 Maoists were killed in the attack.
On 24 December 2009, during an encounter in a forest in Koraput district, a SOG personnel, Gangadhar Dalai, was killed in a claymore explosion and three other personnel were injured. A female Maoist operative was also killed in the same encounter.
2010
On 24 March 2010, 3 SOG personnel were killed and 6 were injured when Maoists open at them during a combing operation in the Gajapati district. In late March 2010, the SOG along with the BSF and CRPF began combing the jungles in the Koraput-Malkangiri-Dantewada region as a part of the Operation Green Hunt.
On 4 April 2010, 9 SOG men were killed and 8 injured seriously, when the bus they were travelling in, encountered a remote-triggered landmine planted by Maoists. Later, a probe by the Odisha Police concluded that the SOG personnel were at fault for not clearing the road before driving. On 18 December 2010, in an encounter between Maoists and the SOG in the Sundergarh district, two Maoists were killed, a SOG personnel was injured and another SOG personnel, Laxman Kissan, was also killed. The Maoists handed over his body to his family in neighbouring Jharkhand on 19 December.
2011
On 2 January 2011, SOG personnel killed 5 Maoists in Jajpur district, which included 4 women, in a 6-hour long gun battle.
2013
A joint team of CRPF, local police and SOG killed 3 Maoists during a combing operation in Rayagada district on 12 July 2013. On 14 September 2013, SOG personnel killed 13 Maoist operatives including a female operative in Malkangiri district.
2014
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of SOG and the District Voluntary Force (DVF) raided a hideout and arrested two Maoists in Sambalpur district on 26 December 2014.
2015
A joint team of Greyhound, SOG, BSF, and CRPF killed 5 Maoists on 4 January 2015 near Paparmetla of Malkangiri district.