JUNE 20, 2018
Operation Mahahunt, Special Forces and Night Patrols
The dry season – December through June – is when poaching is most likely to take place. Water levels are at their lowest and the difficult tracts through the dense riverine forests are easiest to penetrate for poachers. Thus, the dry season corresponds with the annual activation of Nepal Army’s “Operation Mahahunt”, initiated in Chitwan in 2011. The goal was to add muscle to regular army patrols and to concentrate on the most sensitive areas in and around the park. Gradually, the operation has come to include the cooperation of the national park authorities and the local communities. This year, Operation Mahahunt is being conducted with the assistance of special ops forces (SOF), brought in from Mid-Division Headquarters.
It should also be understood that daily patrols are not enough to achieve Zero Poaching. The most likely crossing places of poachers are located between outposts and under the cover of darkness. The army implements 42-plus nightly patrols, referred to as ambushes. They range from 4-man teams to platoon-size forces, paying particular attention to known hotspots for illegal activity.
One evening, Major Karki took me along on an Operation Mahahunt night ambush. It combined Batuk Dal Battalion troops and Special Ops. The SOF contingent, a platoon of foot soldiers, was 29-men strong.
The SOF moved out first. It was around sunset. I was embedded with Major Karki’s jeep patrol We deployed about two hours after SOF. Our jeeps traversed the Rapti Bridge, just north of Kasara, then headed due west across the Buffer Zone, through the open floodplains (now dry and cultivated for crops) under a moonless sky.
Around 8:40 pm, just as we were approaching the outskirts of a darkened village, we caught up with the SOF platoon. They were in single file and moving at an impressive pace. Major Karki ordered our jeeps to halt, jumped out and informed me that we would join the SOF on foot.
I was introduced to Major Bogati, the SOF platoon leader. He was of impressive build and height. His head was shaven and his young face was dripping with sweat. He shouldered a heavy backpack. He and his men would be camping out later that night at an especially sensitive location. If he was fatigued after 2 ½ hours of brisk marching, his voice didn’t reveal it.
As an American, I couldn’t help thinking that Major Bogati would be a perfect candidate for a U.S. Ranger regiment or a spot in the U.S. Army War College. You often see this type of man in the Nepal Army. In fact, many Nepali officers have attended Ranger School and the War College in the U.S. as part of their ongoing training.
We moved forward on foot, into the sleeping community before us. The rudimentary road went straight through the center of town. There were no sidewalks to separate the houses and storefronts from the narrow throughway.
The road was rock-strewn, highlighted by crisscrossing beams of army flashlights – switched on, no doubt, for my benefit. Apart from an occasional kerosene lamp glowing through a curtained window, the town was a blackout: no vehicles coming from the other direction, no farmers returning home for the night – only an unseen chorus of dogs protesting our territorial intrusion.
Major Bogati gestured toward the two-story houses and explained that gathering local intelligence was one of the great advantages of patrolling at night. This was when many villagers, under the cover of darkness, mustered the courage to slip out of their homes, catch up with moving units and relay rumors of poaching activities about to take place.
Community-based disclosures, he continued, were one of the army’s most valued sources of intelligence – essential for successful army ambushes, arrests and, ultimately, prosecutions.
Progress through town proceeded without incident. No informants emerged from their dwellings to pass along information. At the far end of the village, we returned to the jeeps, leaving Major Bogati and his men to continue on foot without us.
30 or 40 minutes later, we approached the convergence of the Narayani and Rapti rivers, then headed northeast, parallel to the embankment of the Narayani, although we couldn’t actually see the water in the darkness. (I also knew that we were nearing popular leopard territory but searching for them wasn’t on that night’s agenda.)
We gained altitude and, eventually, we stopped at a dirt cul-de-sac near an outpost called Bimle. Several jeeps of men had been awaiting our arrival. These were from local and SOF units. We exited the jeeps and proceeded on foot up a path and climbed over a six-foot stone style.
Beyond, rose the silhouette of a 40-50-foot observation tower at the apex of a hill. It was constructed from heavy timber. No one spoke except in whispers. When we reached the base of the tower, I followed Major Karki up three flights of ladders, which led to the top.
Looking down from the balcony, I could see that we were now even with the canopy of trees, but I could nevertheless discern the dim pattern of intersecting footpaths described beneath the foliage.
It was explained to me that, a few years before, six rhinos had been slaughtered nearby. The massacre tipped off the army that Bimle was an overlooked entry point for poachers and the lookout tower was erected soon after.
Major Karki briefly conferred with one of the two SOF sentries stationed on the balcony. So far, no unusual activity had been detected that evening. Soon after, Karki and I descended, leaving the skeleton detail to keep watch through the night. “Next time,” someone muttered behind me.
As I returned to Chitwan Headquarters with the major, bumping along in the jeep, I thought of all the surreptitious troop movement being conducted that night – as stealthy as the leopards, who were also hunting under cover of darkness, and would remain elusive during my investigation. “Next time,” the guy had said, which was just another way of saying “patience.”
Professionalism, Pervasiveness and Patience seemed to be the motto of the jungle patrols.
to be continued...
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