In dark and light, fight of good and bad

Armed with a Glock pistol (used by special forces) and a MP-5 submachine gun, Seethapathy from the Maratha Light Infantry and task force commander Major Jaideep Lamba reached Delhi at 7.50 pm.

By 8.30 the aircraft had taken off. At 10.25 pm, less than 20 minutes after landing at Ahmedabad the commandoes were at Akshardham.

‘‘The commandoes got a briefing about the area where the terrorists were moving around. The Fire Dept provided fire escape ladders to climb the chatri from where the terrorists had opened fire,’’ Army sources said.

Though the commandoes had Night Vision Devices, they were not effective. ‘‘The temple lights threw shadows in bushy areas and in parts of the well-lit temple making operations difficult. Suddenly the Brigadier saw a body fall from the roof.

“Commandoes rushed there thinking one terrorist was killed but it was a police commando. The militants saw the commandoes and brought heavy fire on them,’’ sources said.

This revealed their positions. ‘‘Then it was standard operating procedure.’’ A cordon was thrown around the terrorists and they were flushed out. ‘‘They went and hid in the bushy area behind the temple. the terrorists were in the dark and we were silhouetted against the light. So they directed heavy fire on us. At 2.30 am, the Brigadier called for temporary halt to the operation. Occasionally, grenades were lobbed in the area where terrorists were hiding to keep them engaged. Injured commandoes were moved back for treatment.’’

At first light the commandoes sneaked up to the bushes. Subedar Suresh Chand Yadav, 43-year-old junior commissioned officer from 13 Mahar charged with his MP-5 submachine gun blazing. ‘‘Barely five meters from the first terrorist he took a burst of AK-47 fire in his chest (above the bullet-proof jacket) and head (below the helmet). Within minutes both the terrorists were killed,’’ he said.

A search operation was launched. The terrorists still had two magazines of ammunition and five grenades left. Another commando was also hit on the head in the operation and is recovering at Ahmedabad hospital. Mission over, the commandoes took the first flight back to the garrison, victorious, bearing their ‘‘martyred buddy’’ on their shoulders.