23 November,2009 08:03 AM IST | | J Dey
India's most elite anti-terror commandos always fight shy of limelight Rough and Tough: Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, Heckler and Koch MP-5 submachine guns and Dragunov sniper rifles, MARCOS are among the country's toughest commandos.
On November 26, 2008, 25 men elite fighters called Marcos, an acronym for marine commandoes were called in along with the National Security Guard and army commandos to take on the 10 armed Pakistani terrorists.
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After three days, when the militants were flushed out, the Marcos left Mumbai, taking with them their semi-secret status.
Night riders
On the night of November 26, when Rear Admiral Pattnayak, the chief of staff of the Western Naval Command, answered his mobile phone, it was a frantic state chief secretary Johny Joseph at the other end asking him to send the marine commandos."
Close to an hour after midnight, five teams of 40 Marcos arrived at INS Abhimanyu in Karanja, across the harbour. The rest, as they say, is history.
Raised in the mid 1980s, the Marcos are among the country's toughest commandos.
Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, Heckler and Koch MP-5 submachine guns and Dragunov sniper rifles, most of them were clad in black overalls and wore bulletproof vests.
At around 2.30 am, the Marcos made first contact with the four terrorists on the first floor of Taj and a furious battle ensued.
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The terrorists withdrew, throwing grenades, injuring two Marcos. The engagement was not without event.
Not only had the terrorists left behind two rucksacks, one of which contained four grenades, seven AK-47 magazines, spare ammunition and plastic explosives, but the battle prevented them from reaching 180 potential hostages.
Naval spokesperson Capt-ain Manohar Nambair refused to comment on the issue. Operation Tornado, was the name of the maneuver to flush out terrorists at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower.
