CHENNAI: Mention the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF), what comes to mind at once is the epic battle fought by the highly trained commandos against the elusive and ruthless forest brigand, Veerappan, before gunning him down on October 18, 2004.
Five years down, the elite unit, which has its headquarters at Sathyamangalam in Erode district, is still a fit fighting force. In 2008, it gunned down ‘deadly’ Maoist leader Naveen alias Prasad near Kodaikanal.
And on December 19, 2007, the STF men arrested five Maoists after a 45-minute battle at Varusanadu Hills in Theni district.
On Tuesday, displaying their mental and physical prowess and the constant efforts to upgrade their skills were 22 sharp shooters of the Special Task Force, who added one more feather to their cap – a Karate Black Belt.
“All the 22 snipers were put through unarmed combat training in Sathyamangalam in January,” Inspector General of Police, STF, C Sylendra Babu told presspersons at Marutham campus here.
“After nine months of intensive training, in which the men went without food for a week, eating only what was available in the forest, they qualified for the prestigious Black Belt.”
Explaining the objective behind the training, he said karate strengthened the mind as well as the body. The Japanese martial art also helped remove fear. “We are stronger than what we are and karate reinforces the belief,” Sylendra Babu said.
Also, training in unarmed combat helped to deal with situations involving kidnap of women and children, when the commandos might not be in a position to use weapons. It would come in handy when the fire arms were not functioning and the ammunition had been exhausted.
It was a proud moment for the snipers, including Inspectors K R Jaisingh and A M Senthil Maaran, who played a crucial role in ‘Operation Cocoon’ that brought down Veerappan, when they received their ‘Black Belts’ from Director General of Police (Law and Order) K P Jain.
