In October 1971 Establishment 22 was given a special task. The task was one of engaging East Pakistan based 97 Independent Brigade along with its 2nd Commando Battalion in irregular warfare. The presence of the Special Sevices Group (SSG) in the Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) region of then East Pakistan was well known. The region was crucial as it was through this region that the supply lines passed. The SSG was also responsible for fanning insurgency in Mizoram and Nagaland by supplying arms and training insurgents. Communist ideology had also spread in the ethnically different hill tribes of the CHT. The tribals of CHT during the crackdown which started on March 25,1971 sided with Pakistan and as the months passed came to be known as the “Razakars” and were complicit in all the brutalities carried out by the Pak Army.

The SFF was also accompanied by few fighters of the Bangladesh Liberation Force. This engagement was also operationally important, as the Pak Army in East Pakistan was serviced by the Chittagong seaport. The task for the SFF was in line with one of the initial Indian aims of “Destroying the bulk of the Pak forces in the Eastern Theatre and occupy the major portion of East Bengal including the entry ports of Chittagong and Khulna”.

As the joint force initiated its operations from Demagiri (Mizoram) on October 11, the Mi-4 helicopters had been operating from Demagiri. It was however on October 30, 1971 that Delta-Tango-India (DTI) entered East Pakistan on its maiden reconnaissance mission. Subsequently, various landing zones were created and landing zones established within CHT. The SFF was inducted for specific interdiction missions aboard the  Mi-4s. The casualties were also evacuated.

On December 11, 1971, during one such mission, Delta-Yankee-Victor (DYV) took a hit with one bullet passing through the calf muscle of Flt Lt Jamasji. As recalled by Flt Lt Jamasji during an interview on May 28, 2019, he did the days sortie and in the evening showed the injury to the doctor. The doctor passed an “Alcohol Dipped” thermometer through and through and bandaged him up. DYV was also patched up and flew the next day as there was no other pilot available!!! 

As the surrender ceremony unfolded in Dacca on December 16, 1971, Delta-X-Ray-Whiskey (DXW) was airborne for a live mission in Chittagong. The mopping-up operations and missions to support the fledgeling government of Bangladesh continued.