Filmmaker and producer Rohit Shetty has been credited for making cop films in the Hindi film industry such as Singham, Simmba, and the recently released film Sooryavanshi. While the director has narrated the stories of police officers on screen multiple times, for the first time ever Shetty spent a day in the lives of Commandos of Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu & Kashmir Police. Established in 1994, SOG is a Special Task Force made up of local Kashmiris from the J&K Police who volunteer to be a part of it. SOG Personnel lead anti-terror operations in J&K. This is the first specialised unit of J&K police.
Before heading for his training at the commando centre, Rohit Shetty said, “I am very interested in the police force. The films I have made are also based on the police force. I am proud that for a day I will be trained like a SOG official”.
Rohit is taken to the Commando Training Centre in Lethpora where he meets Senior Superintendent of Police and Principal of the Centre, Tanveer Jillani. He briefs Shetty about the kind of rigorous training a commando undergoes at the Centre which includes physical and mental strength training and sophisticated weaponry training. The training Centre is located 5000 ft above sea level and the winters are quite harsh.
Rohit Shetty begins his physical training with a warm-up with the squad followed by obstacle training. Officer Jillani informs the director that the Centre has 24 obstacles but since they cannot cover all, the officer handpicked a few for Shetty. He begins with the crawl and jump obstacle. Calling it real training, Rohit said that “it is when you perform such activities, one realises the difference between a civilian and a soldier”.
Rohit later undergoes the Ladder obstacle. Telling him about the importance of the training for ladder obstacles, officer Jillani tells Rohit that often times commandos land in situations where they have to climb buildings using ladders without support holding a gun to bring down terrorists. “I have done various stunts in films and used many guns. But never thought that I will have to climb a ladder without supports holding a real AK-56,” Rohit said before heading for the activity. Rohit concludes the physical training with Ramp Jump and UAC (Unarmed Combat) training.
After his physical training, Rohit is introduced to some of the sophisticated weaponry used by SOG for their missions. From AK-47 to MP 5 to Cornor shot machine gun, the SOG is very well equipped. Rohit learns that commandos are trained in such a way that they can dismantle and assemble the guns even with a blindfold. He is shown how to operate the different guns and taken to the firing range.
Once at the firing range, Rohit is introduced to the Cornor Shot Machine Gun (CSM). “It is used when you enter a hideout when you know that there are multiple terrorists in there and it’s a do or die situation,” explains Jillani to Shetty. He further tells him that the gun is such that it helps the soldiers in not getting exposed and how one can make use of the camera on the gun to locate the target. Rohit attempts to use the gun and hits the target.
He then proceeds to operate the Glock Pistol (17-19 shots and 10 m range). After learning how to use it, he hits the target and two of the shots hit the bull’s eye and two on the lower part of the target.
Finally, he is asked to aim at pop-up targets. These are targets that stand upright for three seconds before falling on the floor. The task is to shoot the target in the 3-second window. Rohit realises that it is quite difficult, however, he manages to hit a few on the target.
Having completed his training, Rohit heads for a demo mission with the squad. He experiences the briefing of the team where they are informed about the location where Terrorits are hiding with a few locals captive. They also discuss the strategic movement of commandos.
Their Mission objectives are:
Cordon and search Operations
Room Intervention
Capture the Terrorists
Search and destroy IED (Improvised Explosive Device)
On their way to the target house, Rohit asks the SOG commandos as to why they cover their face with a cloth. Answering the question, a commando revealed that since all the members of SOG are locals they do not want terrorists to identify them so as to keep themselves and their families safe.
Once at the target house, Rohit follows the instructions of the commandos. They rescue locals, take the militants captive, and find the IED. (An IED is an improvised bomb fabricated to destroy or incapacitate personnel. IEDs are triggered by various methods including remote control, infrared magnetic triggers, pressure-sensitive bars, or tripwires.) The bomb squad takes the IED to an isolated location to blast it.
“It is not easy to be a soldier and the equipment that we have today if we show in the films, people say this does not happen for real but we are that well equipped. It is a life-changing experience for me,” said Rohit as he wrapped up his day with the SOG.