Commando recounts Taj operation

Mumbai: Sunil Kumar Yadav has seen the blood and horror unleashed at the Taj Hotel from close quarters.

But the 29-year old NSG commando says what is etched in his mind are hundreds of terror-stricken faces that looked at him pleadingly as he rushed to save them.

"I can never forget the faces of those people. They were so scared, trapped inside their rooms. But when they saw us, they were so relieved. They were clinging to us as though they found their saviours. That is the best feeling one gets out of this job," Yadav told Gulf News from his hospital bed.

The NSG commando sustained three bullet injuries on his thigh while rescuing people from the Taj, and is now recuperating at Bombay Hospital.

Narrating his the action-packed story from the time he landed in Mumbai from New Delhi, Yadav said the commandos were given a briefing on the Taj's structure before they were dispatched in groups with the mission of rescuing the hostages from rooms.

"We reached the sixth floor of the hotel through fire exit points while we could hear gun shots, blasts and screams. There was no light and black smoke thickened the air along the corridors, making it more difficult to search for people. We kept moving ahead and kept on knocking from door to door," said Yadav.

Yadav also said terrorists had strewn the pathways with broken furniture and food trolleys to stall their movements.

According to him, people were so scared that they would not open their doors and the commandos had to break open some.

"Those who were rescued were taken downstairs safely. When we were on the third floor, there was a militant inside a room. He started firing as soon as we broke open the room," said the commando, who got hit by three bullets in the process.

"The hotel guide who was with me got shot and I fired back. I do not know whether my bullets hit the terrorist but I managed to pull away the guide and the lady who was inside the room," he said.

When asked whether his family knew about his condition, he said, "I have not even told them that I am going for this operation. This is our job and we have to do it. Why scare others?"

He said he has now told his family that he has sustained some minor injuries and will be home soon.