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New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) They were the least known of the special forces commandos who were pressed into an anti-terrorist operation in Mumbai. But the 25-odd elite fighters of the Marcos - acronym for marine commandos - grabbed the national and international spotlight with their all-black overalls and faces masked by black cloth.
Dubbed the "bearded forces" because of the beards that the men sported and toting AK-47 assault rifles, Indian Navy's marine commandos follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-terrorism doctrine: Fight a militant like a militant.
Marcos, who are trained in executing covert operations, were called in along with the National Security Guard and army commandos take on armed militants who were holding scores of people hostage inside two luxury hotels since Wednesday night. The militants had struck in at least 10 places in Mumbai, killing 125 people and injuring 327 people.
Two Marcos received injuries during "Operation Tornado" launched to flush out terrorists at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. Their operation continued till Friday.
Trained sky divers and sea divers, the Marcos could sabotage enemy vessels and harbour installations. They can operate in beaches, coastal, jungles and ravines areas. Being divers, they can reach hostile shores swimming underwater, a senior navy official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Officially known as the Indian Marine Special Force, the unit was raised in 1987 out of the naval divers to lead amphibious operations. The personnel volunteering for the force have to undergo a rigorous two-year training, by the end of which only 10-25 percent of the enrolled commandos remain.
Marcos have been active in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the army's counter-terrorist efforts. Their main task is to control the infiltration of terrorists from across the border into Jammu and Kashmir through the Jhelum river and Wullar, a 65 square kilometer freshwater lake.
Some Marcos personnel are also attached with the army special forces units conducting counter-terrorism operations in the area.
They operate similar to the Israeli Mistaravim units sporting beards and wearing the 'pheren' (Kashmiri suit), thus making them indistinguishable from the locals, the official added.
Marcos have gained a fearsome reputation among terrorists who refer to them as the 'Dadiwali Fauj' (Bearded Army) since they are the only non-Sikh personnel allowed to grow beards, 'Jal Murgi' (Water Hens) for the speed in which they carry out assault from the water and 'Magarmachh' (Crocodiles) for their amphibious capability.
Recently, the elite force earned accolades for the Indian Navy after they repulsed pirates attacks off the Somali coast on an Indian and a Saudi merchant vessel Nov 11.
In April 1986, the Indian Navy mooted a plan for a special force, which would be able to conduct reconnaissance, raids and even counter-terrorist operations in a maritime environment. Three naval officers were sent for training with the US Navy SEALS and further training was conducted with British Special Forces. These three naval officers formed the nucleus of the Indian Marine Special Force (IMSF) that was formally raised in February 1987.
The strength of the unit is a closely guarded secret. However, sources say the number could be close to 2,000 personnel. Currently, there are three main groups attached to the three naval commands - Mumbai (West), Cochin (South) and Vizag (East).
The unit's quick rise has changed its role - it was intended to be dedicated to special maritime operations, but a considerable part of Marcos is doubling up as marine infantry with the usual flexibility of commando forces.
NCP MP chalked out poll plans while held up in Taj Hotel
Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) The 40-odd hours that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Jai Singh Gaikwad stayed cooped inside his room in the Taj Mahal Hotel as fierce fighting raged on outside between terrorists and security forces were well spent - chalking out his election plans.
Gaikwad, who was rescued Friday afternoon from the hotel, did not seem hassled at all at the situation he had been in.
My laptop was with me. I chalked out eight of my election campaign plans, Gaikwad told a reporter.
Gaikwad said he was in room No. 319 of the old building of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel.
We were told to shut ourselves from inside when the firing started. First the hotel security talked to us, then Maharashtra Police came and then the NSG (National Security Guards), Gaikwad said.
We were quite comfortable inside. Jo bhi sarkar ne tayari ki, hum bade maze mein rahe (We enjoyed all the preparations done by the government), Gaikwad told reporters.
The terrorists attacked the hotel around 10 p.m. Wednesday. The terror strike in Mumbai has claimed at least 143 lives and left about 327 injured, NSG has said.
Rescued Nepali chef ready to return to Taj
Kathmandu, Nov 28 (IANS) A 36-year-old Nepali chef who was rescued from Mumbai's terror-hit Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel after a five-hour ordeal says he will continue to work there, a newspaper reported here Friday.
"God saved us," Purushottam Basyal was quoted as telling Nepal's biggest newspaper Kantipur about the terror attack at the Taj that began Wednesday. It was one of several prominent places where militants struck.
Basyal had moved from Maldunga village in Nepal's once insurgency-hit Syangja district to Mumbai 16 years ago to seek his fortune. He said he would continue to work for the Taj even though he is shaken by the terror attack.
He said he and other chefs who were on duty at the Taj - when terrorists began coordinated attacks in 10 places, among them the hotel - at first thought it was a "gang fight".
Basyal, who was rescued early Thursday morning, said he and other chefs were preparing dinner on the ground floor kitchen when sounds began erupting around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
"At first, it sounded as if the guests were beating on tin," the chef specialising in Chinese food told the daily. "But within moments, we were told it was the sound of firing. Then people said it was a gang fight."
When it dawned on Basyal and the other chefs that it was a terrorist attack, they rushed to the main kitchen on the first floor and from there, eventually to the basement.
In the pell-mell and the blind firing inside the hotel, two other chefs who worked with him were gunned down, Basyal said. A third chef, whose name was given as Hemant Talim, was on a floor above when he took a hit.
"Hemant called us on our mobile phones saying I have been hit, please come and save me, help," Basyal told the daily. "But we couldn't go to him. Had we been upstairs, we would have died too. God saved us."
While hiding in the basement, Basyal received frantic calls from his family. His wife had seen the news on television about the attacks on the Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels.
Though he tried to reassure her, Basyal said he and the others with him, who had by that time learnt that a part of the hotel was on fire, thought they would perish in the blaze.
But the dreadful night of terror that seemed endless finally ended for them around 3 a.m. Thursday when commandos arrived to rescue people holed up in the basement. But terrorists continued to be holed up in the hotel well into Friday.
Even after coming out of the hotel, Basyal did not go home immediately. He rushed to the place where he was told his injured peer Talim had been taken for treatment after being rescued.
Basyal says he left only after being assured by doctors that though badly hurt, Talim would survive.
Besides the chef, four other Nepalis also work at the Taj. However, none of them were on duty when the attacks started. The terror attacks in Mumbai have left at least 125 people dead and 327 injured.
Two more Nepalis are employed at the Oberoi Trident. But they too had a lucky escape, the daily said.
Mallika Sarabhai, family, troupe escaped Taj terror by whisker
Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) A touch of providence and a small change in itinerary saved renowned classical dancer Mallika Sarabhai and her 25-member dancing troupe from the terror attack at Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel Wednesday night.
"The Darpana Academy of Performing Arts had a scheduled show in the Taj ballroom, on the first floor of the same heritage wing which was first targeted," Mallika told IANS Friday morning.
Exponent of Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam forms of Indian classical dance, she had checked into Room No. 455 Wednesday afternoon and was scheduled to stay there till Thursday morning before leaving for a tour to Dubai.
The performance was for the Unilever group, which had a conference in the hotel that day. Usually, the cultural evening would have started around 8 p.m. but since the company's top brass were scheduled to fly abroad that night, Darpana's show started at 6 p.m. and ended around 8.45.
Later, Mallika had invited her children and some friends for dinner at one of the restaurants in the Taj, but her son Revanta and daughter Anahita insisted on going out.
Finally, they decided to go to Indigo Deli, located just behind the Taj.
Post-dinner, they dropped Mallika to Taj and returned to their rooms at Hotel Ritz, around a km away near Churchgate.
Just then, even as she was outside the hotel, her children sent an SMS saying there was terror attack on Taj and that they were coming to pick her up. Her children soon came in a vehicle and picked her up. When there were starting to leave, they heard the blaring sirens of police and security vans arriving.
She joined her children - who are also part of the 25-member dancing troupe - at their rooms in Hotel Ritz.
The whole night was spent watching the live coverage of the 13 serial terror attacks at different locations in the city.
"There was no question of returning to my room. I had kept my baggage there, including my passport, travel and other documents, a laptop, an expensive video camera, money, jewellery, etc. All that is gone, but I am safe. I am luckier than the other unfortunate victims of this nightmare," Mallika said.
Early Thursday, she saw off her children and troupe that returned to Ahmedabad, and later, she managed to book a flight to return home - to a tumultuous reception by her 70-strong staff at Darpana.
Australian actress, boyfriend fly out of Mumbai
Sydney, Nov 28 (IANS) Australian soap opera actress Brooke Satchwell and her film editor boyfriend David Gross were Friday on a flight to Singapore after a harrowing 36 hours in India's financial capital Mumbai, still battling a coordinated terror attack that began two nights ago.
Satchwell was at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel Wednesday night when gunshots and grenade attacks by militants turned the luxury hotel into a war zone.
The former star of the popular Australian soap opera "Neighbours" was in India for a three-week film shoot and had hid for up to an hour in a cupboard in a toilet on the ground floor before she was rescued by hotel staff.
"From what I know, yes [she is one of the few Australians to leave]... But I haven't been told a lot. She was one of the few [to get out of the country] - I don't know how that happened, I don't know how they got out," her agent Sarah Linsten was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency.
At least three members of the 12 person New South Wales state trade delegation are still said to be holed up inside the Oberoi Trident Hotel.
According to AAP, a spokesperson for Australia Asia Flight Training, which sent a delegate to Mumbai, confirmed their representative had not left his room since the attacks began Wednesday night IST and had no food or information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Satchwell and her boyfriend have also criticised the Australian government for lack of support for Australian nationals caught in the mayhem and have told the local media that the British and American officials had been more helpful.
Up to 26 Australians are believed to be trapped in the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi Trident hotels, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
At least six foreigners were amongst the 125 people killed in the brazen terror attack that targeted some of Mumbai's best known landmarks.
Source: mangalorean.com
Dubbed the "bearded forces" because of the beards that the men sported and toting AK-47 assault rifles, Indian Navy's marine commandos follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-terrorism doctrine: Fight a militant like a militant.
Marcos, who are trained in executing covert operations, were called in along with the National Security Guard and army commandos take on armed militants who were holding scores of people hostage inside two luxury hotels since Wednesday night. The militants had struck in at least 10 places in Mumbai, killing 125 people and injuring 327 people.
Two Marcos received injuries during "Operation Tornado" launched to flush out terrorists at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. Their operation continued till Friday.
Trained sky divers and sea divers, the Marcos could sabotage enemy vessels and harbour installations. They can operate in beaches, coastal, jungles and ravines areas. Being divers, they can reach hostile shores swimming underwater, a senior navy official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Officially known as the Indian Marine Special Force, the unit was raised in 1987 out of the naval divers to lead amphibious operations. The personnel volunteering for the force have to undergo a rigorous two-year training, by the end of which only 10-25 percent of the enrolled commandos remain.
Marcos have been active in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the army's counter-terrorist efforts. Their main task is to control the infiltration of terrorists from across the border into Jammu and Kashmir through the Jhelum river and Wullar, a 65 square kilometer freshwater lake.
Some Marcos personnel are also attached with the army special forces units conducting counter-terrorism operations in the area.
They operate similar to the Israeli Mistaravim units sporting beards and wearing the 'pheren' (Kashmiri suit), thus making them indistinguishable from the locals, the official added.
Marcos have gained a fearsome reputation among terrorists who refer to them as the 'Dadiwali Fauj' (Bearded Army) since they are the only non-Sikh personnel allowed to grow beards, 'Jal Murgi' (Water Hens) for the speed in which they carry out assault from the water and 'Magarmachh' (Crocodiles) for their amphibious capability.
Recently, the elite force earned accolades for the Indian Navy after they repulsed pirates attacks off the Somali coast on an Indian and a Saudi merchant vessel Nov 11.
In April 1986, the Indian Navy mooted a plan for a special force, which would be able to conduct reconnaissance, raids and even counter-terrorist operations in a maritime environment. Three naval officers were sent for training with the US Navy SEALS and further training was conducted with British Special Forces. These three naval officers formed the nucleus of the Indian Marine Special Force (IMSF) that was formally raised in February 1987.
The strength of the unit is a closely guarded secret. However, sources say the number could be close to 2,000 personnel. Currently, there are three main groups attached to the three naval commands - Mumbai (West), Cochin (South) and Vizag (East).
The unit's quick rise has changed its role - it was intended to be dedicated to special maritime operations, but a considerable part of Marcos is doubling up as marine infantry with the usual flexibility of commando forces.
NCP MP chalked out poll plans while held up in Taj Hotel
Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) The 40-odd hours that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Jai Singh Gaikwad stayed cooped inside his room in the Taj Mahal Hotel as fierce fighting raged on outside between terrorists and security forces were well spent - chalking out his election plans.
Gaikwad, who was rescued Friday afternoon from the hotel, did not seem hassled at all at the situation he had been in.
My laptop was with me. I chalked out eight of my election campaign plans, Gaikwad told a reporter.
Gaikwad said he was in room No. 319 of the old building of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel.
We were told to shut ourselves from inside when the firing started. First the hotel security talked to us, then Maharashtra Police came and then the NSG (National Security Guards), Gaikwad said.
We were quite comfortable inside. Jo bhi sarkar ne tayari ki, hum bade maze mein rahe (We enjoyed all the preparations done by the government), Gaikwad told reporters.
The terrorists attacked the hotel around 10 p.m. Wednesday. The terror strike in Mumbai has claimed at least 143 lives and left about 327 injured, NSG has said.
Rescued Nepali chef ready to return to Taj
Kathmandu, Nov 28 (IANS) A 36-year-old Nepali chef who was rescued from Mumbai's terror-hit Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel after a five-hour ordeal says he will continue to work there, a newspaper reported here Friday.
"God saved us," Purushottam Basyal was quoted as telling Nepal's biggest newspaper Kantipur about the terror attack at the Taj that began Wednesday. It was one of several prominent places where militants struck.
Basyal had moved from Maldunga village in Nepal's once insurgency-hit Syangja district to Mumbai 16 years ago to seek his fortune. He said he would continue to work for the Taj even though he is shaken by the terror attack.
He said he and other chefs who were on duty at the Taj - when terrorists began coordinated attacks in 10 places, among them the hotel - at first thought it was a "gang fight".
Basyal, who was rescued early Thursday morning, said he and other chefs were preparing dinner on the ground floor kitchen when sounds began erupting around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
"At first, it sounded as if the guests were beating on tin," the chef specialising in Chinese food told the daily. "But within moments, we were told it was the sound of firing. Then people said it was a gang fight."
When it dawned on Basyal and the other chefs that it was a terrorist attack, they rushed to the main kitchen on the first floor and from there, eventually to the basement.
In the pell-mell and the blind firing inside the hotel, two other chefs who worked with him were gunned down, Basyal said. A third chef, whose name was given as Hemant Talim, was on a floor above when he took a hit.
"Hemant called us on our mobile phones saying I have been hit, please come and save me, help," Basyal told the daily. "But we couldn't go to him. Had we been upstairs, we would have died too. God saved us."
While hiding in the basement, Basyal received frantic calls from his family. His wife had seen the news on television about the attacks on the Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels.
Though he tried to reassure her, Basyal said he and the others with him, who had by that time learnt that a part of the hotel was on fire, thought they would perish in the blaze.
But the dreadful night of terror that seemed endless finally ended for them around 3 a.m. Thursday when commandos arrived to rescue people holed up in the basement. But terrorists continued to be holed up in the hotel well into Friday.
Even after coming out of the hotel, Basyal did not go home immediately. He rushed to the place where he was told his injured peer Talim had been taken for treatment after being rescued.
Basyal says he left only after being assured by doctors that though badly hurt, Talim would survive.
Besides the chef, four other Nepalis also work at the Taj. However, none of them were on duty when the attacks started. The terror attacks in Mumbai have left at least 125 people dead and 327 injured.
Two more Nepalis are employed at the Oberoi Trident. But they too had a lucky escape, the daily said.
Mallika Sarabhai, family, troupe escaped Taj terror by whisker
Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) A touch of providence and a small change in itinerary saved renowned classical dancer Mallika Sarabhai and her 25-member dancing troupe from the terror attack at Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel Wednesday night.
"The Darpana Academy of Performing Arts had a scheduled show in the Taj ballroom, on the first floor of the same heritage wing which was first targeted," Mallika told IANS Friday morning.
Exponent of Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam forms of Indian classical dance, she had checked into Room No. 455 Wednesday afternoon and was scheduled to stay there till Thursday morning before leaving for a tour to Dubai.
The performance was for the Unilever group, which had a conference in the hotel that day. Usually, the cultural evening would have started around 8 p.m. but since the company's top brass were scheduled to fly abroad that night, Darpana's show started at 6 p.m. and ended around 8.45.
Later, Mallika had invited her children and some friends for dinner at one of the restaurants in the Taj, but her son Revanta and daughter Anahita insisted on going out.
Finally, they decided to go to Indigo Deli, located just behind the Taj.
Post-dinner, they dropped Mallika to Taj and returned to their rooms at Hotel Ritz, around a km away near Churchgate.
Just then, even as she was outside the hotel, her children sent an SMS saying there was terror attack on Taj and that they were coming to pick her up. Her children soon came in a vehicle and picked her up. When there were starting to leave, they heard the blaring sirens of police and security vans arriving.
She joined her children - who are also part of the 25-member dancing troupe - at their rooms in Hotel Ritz.
The whole night was spent watching the live coverage of the 13 serial terror attacks at different locations in the city.
"There was no question of returning to my room. I had kept my baggage there, including my passport, travel and other documents, a laptop, an expensive video camera, money, jewellery, etc. All that is gone, but I am safe. I am luckier than the other unfortunate victims of this nightmare," Mallika said.
Early Thursday, she saw off her children and troupe that returned to Ahmedabad, and later, she managed to book a flight to return home - to a tumultuous reception by her 70-strong staff at Darpana.
Australian actress, boyfriend fly out of Mumbai
Sydney, Nov 28 (IANS) Australian soap opera actress Brooke Satchwell and her film editor boyfriend David Gross were Friday on a flight to Singapore after a harrowing 36 hours in India's financial capital Mumbai, still battling a coordinated terror attack that began two nights ago.
Satchwell was at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel Wednesday night when gunshots and grenade attacks by militants turned the luxury hotel into a war zone.
The former star of the popular Australian soap opera "Neighbours" was in India for a three-week film shoot and had hid for up to an hour in a cupboard in a toilet on the ground floor before she was rescued by hotel staff.
"From what I know, yes [she is one of the few Australians to leave]... But I haven't been told a lot. She was one of the few [to get out of the country] - I don't know how that happened, I don't know how they got out," her agent Sarah Linsten was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency.
At least three members of the 12 person New South Wales state trade delegation are still said to be holed up inside the Oberoi Trident Hotel.
According to AAP, a spokesperson for Australia Asia Flight Training, which sent a delegate to Mumbai, confirmed their representative had not left his room since the attacks began Wednesday night IST and had no food or information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Satchwell and her boyfriend have also criticised the Australian government for lack of support for Australian nationals caught in the mayhem and have told the local media that the British and American officials had been more helpful.
Up to 26 Australians are believed to be trapped in the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi Trident hotels, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
At least six foreigners were amongst the 125 people killed in the brazen terror attack that targeted some of Mumbai's best known landmarks.
Source: mangalorean.com
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