Our Bureau
Mumbai
On the 25 years of Operation Khukri, actor-filmmaker Randeep Hooda marked the moment and said that it was one of the most successful UN operations of all time and a proud moment for all Indians.
Randeep took to Instagram, where he shared an image of Army personnel and wrote: “25 Years of #OperationKhukri 15 July 2025, marks the Silver Jubilee of a very unique Operation where 232 Indian soldiers and UN observers broke out of a 75 day siege surrounded by thousands of rebel RUF fighters.”
“Operation Khukri is an endearing story of courage, grit & peace and Indian Army’s most daring operation under the UN Flag. I Am honoured to bring this story to the big screen,” said filmmaker Rahul Mittra whose production house Rahul Mittra Films along with Randeep Hooda Films have bagged the official film rights to the military bestseller ‘Operation Khukri: The Untold Story of the Indian Army’s Bravest Peacekeeping Mission Abroad’ by Major General Rajpal Punia and Damini Punia.
The film “Operation Khukri” will bring to screen the harrowing real-life events from 2000, when 233 Indian soldiers were held hostage by rebel forces in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and the subsequent high-risk rescue mission that followed.
The film will feature Hooda as Major General Raj Pal Punia, who was then a young Company Commander of the 14th Mechanised Infantry. The Major General navigated the extraordinary rescue mission and the subsequent jungle warfare. The mission began as a peacekeeping effort but escalated into a tense 75-day standoff that tested the resolve of the Indian contingent, who found themselves surrounded without supplies in the hostile terrains of Kailahun.
“15 July 2025, marks 25 years of the most successful Operation in the History of United Nations. While all other Soldiers from other countries laid down their weapons in front of the Revolutionary United Front Rebels, it was the Indian Sodier who stood his ground challenging even death for 75 long days. Every Indian must feel absolutely proud of his soldiers. 15 July needs to be celebrated as a day of National Prestige. Jai Hind, “ said Maj Gen Raj Pal Punia on this historic day.
