When adrenaline is flowing, one forgets one’s safety, near and dear ones. The young Lt was so charged up seeing one of his men getting injured that he took it upon himself to eliminate the militants, no matter the risk
The Line of Control is intricately fenced with various day and night surveillance devices and sensors installed to keep a check on militants crossing over from Pakistan. Prior to 2004, it was largely porous and units laid ambushes along likely routes to check infiltration.
On the night of September 25-26, 2001, an ambush party of 8 Bihar, comprising a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and seven other ranks, spotted a group of 15 armed militants. The dilemma in the mind of the JCO was whether to open fire or ask for additional assistance. In case of the former, the chances were that the ambush party could get outnumbered and in the latter, they could lose the group into the thick jungles from where it would have been very difficult to reestablish contact.
Not bothering about the numbers and personal safety, the JCO opened fire and so did the rest of the ambush party, and in the ensuing firefight brought down three militants and injured the guide. The rest of the militants scattered in small groups.
Fortunately, we had a battalion in one of the bases which had concentrated to de-induct after completion of tenure. The troops were moved to cordon off the area and prevent escape of the infiltrators.
As day broke, 8 Bihar organised three parties under an officer each from three directions to locate and eliminate the militants. One such party was led by the young Lieutenant Alexander (Alex), who had recently come back from leave after getting married. This party came under fire from a rocky outcrop atop a hill. The lead scout was injured and the militants would not permit any movement forward for extricating him. A rocket launcher was called for and a few rounds of that silenced the militants enough to extricate him. However, intermittent firing continued.
I was monitoring the action on the battalion radio net and heard Alex getting all exited and informing his Commanding Officer that he would “soon sort out these…” I didn’t want this young blood to take any rash action so I got onto the air and told him to take it easy as we had the whole day available, and additional troops were being sent to tackle this group. Alex responded with “Wilco Sir”, and was not heard thereafter.
I thought he had taken my advice seriously, but after an hour or so, he came on the air to announce, “Sir, I have eliminated all three of them.”
Apparently, this youngster was so charged up seeing one of his men getting injured that he, along with his buddy, decided to go around the hillock from a difficult approach to get behind the militants. He crawled up to them, lobbed a grenade and the two charged at the militants and shot them. When adrenaline is flowing, one forgets one’s safety, one’s near and dear ones, that you have recently got married and there is a young bride waiting for your return home while she prays for your safety.
This operation carried on till late in the evening, as the other two parties of the battalion made good progress, resulting in the elimination of 12 militants. The three who had managed to escape were eliminated by another battalion the next day. The injured guide, however, managed to escape.
The operation was named after Birsa Munda, a folk hero and a tribal freedom fighter hailing from the Munda tribe. Just 25 when he died in 1900, he is known to have mobilised the tribal community against the British in the Bihar and Jharkhand belt. This is the area from where the troops of this valiant battalion come from.
The operation brought out the raw courage of the men led by fearless young officers who showed their true grit, josh and paltan spirit. They, like Alex, are the backbone of the Army, leading operations under such difficult conditions.