Special Operation Group

The Special Operation Group (SOG) is an Indian elite paramilitary unit operating under the Odisha Police (OP).  The force specializes in neutralizing terrorists, insurgents and extremists.  They are trained to execute rapid action under any circumstance; these are highly trained for field craft and jungle warfare as well. 

Mission
The Special Operation Group (SOG) was formed in August 2004, under the Home Department of the Government of Odisha with the main objective of neutralizing any terrorist, insurgent, extremist groups operating in Odisha. 

Organisation

Headquarters
Odisha State Police Headquarters, Cuttack
Odisha Special Intelligence Wing (SIW), Bhubaneswar
The Special Operation Group, initially in 2004, had 543 active posts, but by 2009 it had grown to 1,370 personnel.  In 2018, former Director General of Police (Odisha) Sanjeev Marik disclosed that the force consisted of 3000 active personnel. 

Training
They receive training at SOG Training Centre in Chandaka, Bhubaneswar and also from the army base in Jabalpur. 

Recruitment in the force isn't direct, the personnel are drawn from Civil Police, Odisha Special Armed Police Battalions and Indian Reserve (IR) Battalions.  The unit also allows recruitment of operatives from the Indian Armed Forces, Central Para Military Forces and units of other Indian State Police Services.  It works closely with the Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) of the Odisha Police. 

History

2007
In December 2007, SOG helped in bringing the ongoing religious violence under control. 

2008
On 15 February 2008, at about 2230 hours Indian Standard Time, more than 500 heavily armed Naxals carried out simultaneous and multi-pronged attacks on the Police Training School, Nayagarh.  SOG Assistant Commandant Pramod Kumar Satapathy, along with his 20 SOG personnel rushed to the jungles where the naxalites were hiding and mounted an assault on them with a strategic plan set up for rapid action.  In a fierce encounter lasting for about two hours, according to sources, 14 Odisha Police personnel, Assistant Commandant Pramod Kumar Satapathy, and one civilian lost their lives in this assault.  Pramod Kumar Satapathy was awarded the Ashoka Chakra posthumously on Republic Day, 26 January 2009 for his display of highest degree of bravery and dedication to duty in the fight against naxalites. 
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 killed in the battle.  On 16 July 2008, a van carrying SOG personnel was ambushed in Malkangiri district and 17 personnel were killed 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. 

2012
On 15 June 2012, SOG personnel arrested 4 Maoists in Bandhugaon, Koraput district, while they were returning from a combing operation. 

2013
On 12 July 2013, a joint team of Central Reserve Police Force and SOG killed 3 Maoists during a combing operation in Rayagada district.  
On 14 September 2013, a joint team of Special Operation Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force (DVF) killed at least 13 Maoists, including a woman, and captured one person in a fierce encounter in a forest in Malkangiri district. 

2014
On 26 December 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. 

2015
On 4 January 2015, a joint team of SOG, BSF, Central Reserve Police Force, and Greyhounds killed 5 Maoists near Paparmetla of Malkangiri district. 
On 19 September 2015, a team of SOG and District Voluntary Force (DVF) launched an operation in Bhejaguda forest of Mathili area where 3 Maoists were gunned down. 

2018
On 26 March 2018, 4 Maoists were killed during a joint combing operation conducted by SOG and District Voluntary Force (DVF) at Dokari Ghati.  
In May 2018, 7 Maoists, including two top cadres, were killed in two separate encounters carried out by SOG personnel in Kandhamal and Bolangir districts. 
On 5 November 2018, 5 Maoists, including 2 women, were gunned down by SOG personnel in a forested area of Malkangiri district, bordering Andhra Pradesh. 

2019
On 13 March 2019, a woman Maoist fighter was killed in an encounter with the SOG and District Voluntary Force (DVF) personnel in Sirla forest in Kandhamal district. 

Awards

See also
 Special Tactical Unit (Odisha Police)
 Counter Insurgency Force (West Bengal Police)
 Greyhounds (Police) (Andhra Pradesh Police)
 Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
 Operation Green Hunt

References

Category:Non-military counter-terrorist organizations
Category:Non-military counter-insurgency organizations
Category:Odisha Police
Category:Counter-terrorism in India
Category:Specialist law enforcement agencies of India