Hrishabh Tiwari
23/05/2021
June 4, 2015, a cataclysmic day which no Indian soldier would forget. A ghastly attack on the convoy of 6-Dogra Regiment claimed lives of 18 soldiers and left fifteen critically injured. Notably, this ambush was not on the Kashmir soil but 3,000 km south-east in the culturally rich state Manipur. On the morning of June 4, just under 100 km from Manipur state capital Imphal, at about 8.30 am when the convoy of 6-Dogra was ferrying its troop to their base after an operational deployment, the camouflaged trucks of the Indian Army carrying the surge came under the pre-planned sally of 3 insurgents; Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL). The powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast took place on Tengnoupal-New Samtal road while the soldiers were on their passage which now seemed to have changed into a voyage. After the blast, the insurgent outfits resorted to heavy firing with automatic weapons and RPGs (Rocket-propelled grenade). Such cowardly attack on the Indian Army convoy was condemned globally, however the ambush needed much more than mere castigation. The strafe and attacks on Indian soldiers from NSCN led by the Myanmar based insurgent leader SS Khaplang had grown in the past few months, just a month ago in April 2015, 8 soldiers of 23-sector Assam Rifles were brutally killed by militants of NSCN-K in Mon District of Nagaland. The Central government led by PM Narendra Modi gave nod to a first in kind cross-border attack on the insurgents sheltered deep inside Myanmar. 64 war-ready commandos from the elite Parachute Regiment were tasked to carry out a strike on the camps of militants, Lt Col Nectar Sanjenbam of 21 Para Special Forces led the nonpareil soldiers into the operation and attacked 3 targets beyond the Indo-Myanmar border. The 36 hour mission led to elimination of around 40-50 insurgent outfits, this cross-border strike was also very special as it instilled confidence into 4-Para and 9-Para SF soldiers who had carried out the #SurgicalStrike on Pakistani soil, just over a year later.
A sudden rip-roaring blow and the camouflaged Ashok Leyland trucks carrying the soldiers of 6-Dogra Regiment combusted to black-rusted cannister, the smell and fumes from burning metal and flesh could be perceived from long. Just few hours ago, on the cloudy morning of June 4, 2015, troops of 6th Battalion Dogra Regiment were pulling up their socks to start their journey towards their headquarter in Nagaland's Dimapur after completing their 3 years deployment tenure in Moltuk base in Chandel district, Manipur. 4 trucks carrying 46 soldiers in all set on its path at around 8 am from Moltuk. Just under 80 km from Imphal and a mere 15 km from Myanmar border, when the convoy was passing from hilly area in Paraolol, a powerful IED blast attack convulsed the troops, besides setting two trucks fuming with high flame, the soldiers trapped inside the truck were burnt alive, the ambush from the militants was well-planned, before anyone could gather their sense, militants started to shell RPGs and fire from their Heckler & Koch assault rifles. The surviving soldiers tried to hold their ground, in the cross fire lasting over an hour, 1 militant was neutralized while others fled away. The reinforcement unit reached the spot, medics pumped in morphine into critically injured soldiers and airlifted them to Base Hospital in Manipur. By the end of the day, the miserable news; brutal killing of 18 soldiers had made headline in every news channel across the nation.
The social media was flooded with aggrieved messages condemning this cowardly attack on the Indian Army and demanding a powerful response to this offence. However the point to be noticed here is that these militant outfit have their presence along Indo-Myanmar border for more than three decades. More than 50 Naga tribes inhabit the areas on either side along the Indo-Myanmar border. National Socialist Council of Nagaland is an insurgent group formed by Myanmar-based SS Khaplang in 1988, this rebel group includes Nagas from both the nation. In the year 2001, the NSCN declared ceasefire with the Indian Armed Forces until March, 2015. On March 27, 2015 SS Khaplang called off the ceasefire with Delhi and it became clear he did not want peace. The NSCN has split into many fractions since its formation while two core group remains; NSCN-K (Khaplang) and NSCN-R (Reformation).
As these situation were developing in Manipur, commandos from Special Forces were getting ready to head towards Congo for a United Nation's peacekeeping mission. Congo has a long dating dispute between ethnic rebel groups resulting in daily blood-shed but in the year 1999 UN stepped in and declared a ceasefire, troops from several nation take part in these peace keeping missions on a turn basis. In the year 2015, India volunteered to maintain peace in Republic of Congo under the flagship MONUSCO, a French acronym for the United Nations Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the modern times, Congo war is one of the costliest peacekeeping mission with outlay of $1.25 billion. Finest of the soldiers get selected for these missions and how could it be possible that SF commandos don't make the cut? In June 2015, 100 men from elite 21 Para SF were to move to North Kivu, it is a mineral rich region but its blessing has now turned into a doom because of the daily brutality and blood-shed.
The troop of the SF commandos were to leave from Air Force Station, Palam, Delhi. Just few hours to the takeoff, commandos received the despairing news through a call from their home base in Jorhat, Assam. Within the short 5 minutes call, men from the airborne regiment had a fresh challenge and new orders in hand. The troop did board the plane that day but not for UN's mission in Congo instead for fresh assignment in Manipur. The Lockheed Martin's C-130J Super Hercules plane throttled them to Manipur in no time, by evening, they had stepped in Manipur in completely opposite direction where they were suppose to be.
Although the commandos knew what had happened in Manipur but it was until the next day they would be briefed about their new mission. It was clear that 3 insurgent outfits active in the state were behind the attack, through Intelligence agencies it was conveyed that the militants had managed to cross the Indo-Myanmar border and slip into the dense forest, deep inside Myanmar. The militant have been in gun fights with the Army in the past and had fallen back to safe territory across border but the ambush on June 5 had the Indian Army breathing fire. A 35 year old, 21 Para Special Forces Officer Lieutenant Colonel Nectar Sanjenbam sitting at the headquarters of Army Mountain Division, Leimakhong, Manipur was up in arms after hearing the tragic news. The attack had taken place in his area of operation, but he knew any kind of foul urgency could prove a boomerang.
‘When you lose 18 men like this, you have to figure out how you can hit back and what options you have. My first instinct was to launch an operation immediately with my team, hunt down those responsible and blow their brains out.’-Lt Col Nectar Sanjenbam
Second-in-Command of 21 Para SF, Lt Col Sanjenbam had trained well in the terrains of northeast, 5 foot 10 inches tall, muscular and well built Lt Col Nectar knew the Northeast better than anyone. Just over a decade ago, in the year 2004, militants in an ambush killed a young captain of Indian Army, the then Captain Sanjenbam led a small troop and pinned down 8 militants. The stout-hearted heroics of Lt Col Sanjenbam has been a tell-tale in his regiment and soon after the mission he was awarded with Shaurya Chakra. Few years into the service, he had embellished a name for himself, the militants know him up close, they have had to face him in jungle more times than they would like.
‘We killed 8 of the 11 guys who laid the ambush. We got them the same day. Their joy was short-lived. We were faster than them.’
Since 2006, he has been on the most wanted list of Manipur based Liberation Army and insurgents across the Indo-Myanmar but that doesn't ruffle him either, in career expanding almost 2 decades, he has carried out operations and counter-insurgencies more than anyone, to say he owns the jungles of Northeast wouldn't be unfair. The then Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag postponed his UK visit, NSA Ajit Doval too returned back from Prime minister's tour in Bangladesh, this made it crystal clear of something big unfolding behind the curtains. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and NSA Doval along with top officers of Army held a meeting and it was decided, men from Para SF would cross the border and launch a strike on the insurgent camps.
Army chief flew to Manipur and conveyed the Central government's will to retaliate, Lt Gen Bipin Rawat(now chief of Defence Staff) and some select group of officers were in the chain who knew about the most secretive mission. In briefing given to Lt Col Nectar Sanjenbam and his men, Lt Gen Bipin Rawat made it pretty clear that the militant were on the foreign soil and Central government had given full backing to the mission while Defence Minister himself would be overlooking the operations, the Myanmar government too were informed about the strike from their Delhi counterpart, this was the moment SF men had been waiting for, to go out and speak the 'language of Death'.
June 7, 2015 was decided as the D-Day, although the SF boys don't need any preparation as they are always war-ready but this mission being on the unknown territory in the foreign soil needed every step to be thoroughly planned. 3 insurgent camps were selected as the targets to be struck and it was decided 2 teams would carry out the sally on the jungle sanctuaries of militants; one from Nagaland and other from Manipur. ‘We spent our first few hours selecting camps which the insurgents would have thought were beyond our reach—where they felt secure. It was not to be a token assault,’ Lt. Col. Delta recalls.
Now the only hurdle in the strike was the distance, all the main camps of the insurgents were located deep inside Myanmar forests, any mistake or spotting by the local informers of the militants would cost the mission, hence it was decided to postpone the strike till June 9. The crucial two days time given to SF men were going to prove game-changer, Lt Col Sanjenbam devised the plan for the mission, incase of any muddle mix-up 'plan B' was kept ready, the unrivalled airborne commandos started cherry-picking their weapons, just as they say, "Sharper the sword, deeper the cut".
Israeli Tavor TAR-21, Galil Sniper Rifle, M4A1 Carbine, Carl Gustav Rocket Launcher, AK-47, Under barrel grenade launcher all packed, SF men ensured there's no undersupply while greeting the insurgents. The backpacks weighed almost half a quintal, stuffed with ammunition, dry fruits, ready-to-eat meals and water cannisters. Lt Gen Bipin Rawat(now CDS) who was overlooking the operation ensured that the boys were provided with all necessary logistics so that their focus remains undeterred from the mission.
The Venture towards 'Unknown'
The trucks were waiting to scoot the SF men closer to the Indo-Myanmar border, airlifting was out of the equation as it would alert the militants. 64 boys of 21 Para SF got in the vehicles with their 50 kg rucksacks on the back and gun held firmly in the hand. Stepping out of the trucks at about 8 pm, the soldiers spent the night within the Indian side of the border and with the break of the dawn on June 8, SF men started their journey towards the insurgent camps with a motive to hunt down each infiltrator, to uphold the pride of the nation, to fight for 'नाम, नमक और निशान'
The SF men had taken two guides along with them, they knew the bushy jungle path and could very well speak Burmese. Lt Col Nectar Sanjenbam himself had gazed through the map at least 100 times and his photographic memory had captured every single detail possible. Climbing and trekking through a 6 km path which had everything nature could offer; hills, dense forests, venomous reptiles, parasitic mosquitoes and what not! By the time, they crossed these hurdles, they had fully emptied their 7 liters water can. "Lets go boys, the faster we finish the mission, the quicker we'll get water from destroyed enemy camps", smiled Lt Col Sanjenbam while motivating his troop.
Those 64 SF men on the enemy turf were the best in business, not that they hadn't faced such a situation before but the peak summer time, record humidity and hilly terrains to trek could parch any men. Just then the misery of the boys worsened, things went haywire when 5 local Shikaris moving downhill after hunting a enormous lizard spotted the SF men on the move. Lt Col had two options; easier was to let them go and leave it on luck but if they turn out to be informers then the surprise attack would turn into a mere defensive survival. The other option was to finish them then and there, which neither Lt Col Sanjenbam nor his men would approve of-at least not without a proof.
The fate of 5 Shikaris was decided, tied and masked they were taken along till the point of strike. The teams then decided to have meal to fully recharge before they lay the ambush, a group of soldiers guarding while others eat, this pattern was followed until everyone finished eating. Lt Col Sanjenbam while gobbling the ready-to-eat Rajma-Chawal remembered his mother who was to undergo a cervical cancer surgery just two days later, the Rajma was nowhere close to what his mother cooked when he would visit her, but he knew in a mission nothing tastes better than victory, quickly finishing the meal and converging his focus back on the mission, he ordered the boys to take position on the hilltop and keep low until the dark.
The camps were barely at 3 minute distance from there, just as the sun came down and the cicadas, crickets started wailing at their top, the 64 men were divided into four teams, 2 would go in and strike the three camps, 1 team would hunt the fleeing militants while 1 team would stay back to act as shock troop and give cover fire on return. Lt Col Nectar Sanjenbam along with two teams then moved downhill and took position, the sky was clear and the hilltop was bathing in moonlight. Things were going as planned, the team would launch the attack before the sunrise, but just then something seemed amiss, Lt Col Sanjenbam's night vision goggles glimpsed a group of militants coming towards them, just as they got nearer they started speculative firing. "Did our plan backfired?, Are our cover blown?", thought Lt Col. But as it would be clear a moment later that the militants were out patrolling and blind firing to instigate the antagonists in hiding as they usually do. The patrolling group kept returning and firing every other hour, sometimes they would be just few meters away, this was very frustrating for Sanjenbam and his team.
The patrolling continued till 3 am, the SF men had gone 3 days straight without proper sleep but they couldn't afford to shut their eyes even for a moment, amid all this the firings and patrolling stopped. Lt Col Sanjenbam in his 2 decade of service maintained an excellent chain of informers, one of the tattletale had informed Sanjenbam that the militants have meal twice in a day, once in the morning at 5 am and one in the afternoon at 3, at these two moments all of them gather together to have meal. It was the perfect time for SF men to strike the three camps which formed a big campus.
Just as the clocked ticked 5, the 3 SF teams dashed towards the camps, a rocket fired at the main gate burnt the sentries and the gate to ashes. The deadly ambush had began, bullets kept flying, one magazine finishes another gets clamped in. Within first 10 minutes of the attack, the first camp was completely blown. Militants of the second camp were however alerted and they came out in arms, a fierce gunfight followed, grenades, rockets were shelled in the camp, in next 20 minutes the SF soldiers fired so much ammunition that the mere existence of that camp would be in question.
Militants from the third camp gave a tough fight, the SF men were finding it difficult to eliminate them as there were underground bunkers from where the militants in hiding were firing. Under barrel grenades were fired to tackle the incomings but soon Lt Col Nectar Sanjenbam realized that the task to take down the two camp was completed and staying back there for long wasn't a good idea. The teams did not enter the third camp and amid the cover fire provided by the team atop the hill, all the men started their journey back towards home. The exfiltration route was pre-planned and the SF teams reached the Indo-Myanmar border in no time, Army Aviation Corp's two Dhruv choppers waiting there airlifted the men to Manipur. The mission was a success, by noon on June 9, 2015 all men had returned safe and sound to the same place from where they had left two days back, Lt Col Sanjenbam made a short call to Lt Gen Bipin Rawat and informed about the mission success. Soon after briefing, Lt Col Sanjenbam drove his Maruti 800 to the Hospital where his mother's surgery would take place, he spent a day with his mother and returned to the base to complete further proceedings.
In Delhi, Indian Army DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh held a press conference and told the world about the heroics of SF Commandos. The Indian Army didn't give a specific numbers but according to various intelligence sources, the death count is somewhere close to 50. The men of 21 Parachute Regiment had accomplished a mammoth task with ease, for the valor and grit shown by Lt Col Nectar Sanjenbam while leading the troop, he was honored with Kirti Chakra and Havildar TK Limbu was awarded Shaurya Chakra while Major Prashant Yadav, Lieutenant Krishan Kant, Havildar Raj Bahadur Tamang, Naik Manoj Kumar and Naik Bhupinder Singh were honored with Sena Medal.
In case you are still wondering about those 5 Shikaris then to tell you, they were set free 5 minutes before the strike but while on the de-induction, Lt Col Sanjenbam and his men did enjoy the monitor lizard fetish that the Shikaris prepared, coal cooked and blood bathed, just as the boys like...
Sources: Extracts from India's Most fearless-a book by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh