Sophia and Thunderstorm are just one among the many like them.
Sophia and Thunderstorm are merely one among the hundred other animals: mules, yaks, ponies, dogs inducted in Indo-Tibetian Border police Force (ITBP) for operational and logistical duties. Yet, their role and performance have been integral for the force personnel who have developed a unique man-animal relationship moving beyond the operational dependence on duty.
There are stories galore on the daring operations carried out by these animals and how they've become a irreplaceable part of ITBP. But since both the equine and dog work in sensitive locations, exact details of their adventurous exploits is hard to come.
Commandant Raveshwar Singh Rana who trained Thunderstorm and is his handler remembers the time of snow blizzard in Ladakh during patrolling when there was a complete whiteout, covering the horse trail.
"We could not see anything, the path below was completely covered by the snow, there was no compass with us and we lost the sense of direction,'' he recalls. As the leader of the ponies, Thunderstorm lived up to its name. With his sixth-sense activated, he guided the rest of the ponies and the troops right up to the border outpost 15 kms away. "He is the most compassionate, gentle horse with an exceptional sixth sense. He knows how to handle even a novice rider and will not unsaddle them,'' says second trainer Assistant Commandant Amit Chettri about the warm blood, thorough-bred Thunderstorm who also trains troops (riding on horses) for border patrolling.
Sophia, the beautiful brown Belgian Malinois breed is still a baby, but commands the love and respect from the forces as a queen. In Rajnandgaon district, Chhatisgarh, where Sophia is attached with 40th battalion, has detected numerous IEDs during Road Opening Party (ROP) and Area Domination.
Once while leading the vanguard along with her handler Havaldar Surinder Singh of an advance party which was walking 100 metres behind them, Sophia paused, started twitching her eyes, swishing her tail and quietly sat down. She had found a 15 kg pipe bomb planted by Maoists. Havaldar Surinder who had a walkie-talkie informed the party to stop, a bomb-disposal squad was summoned to dispose the IED. Her alertness that day not only saved the lives of the personnel in the advance party but also boosted the morale of the troops who work in anti-Naxal operations. Used to searching for explosives and going on long walks during the ROP exercises, for Sophia, this was just another day at work.
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