NEW DELHI: On November 26, 2008, former NSG commando Surender Singh was at the NSG (National Security Guard) campus in Manesar when he heard the shocking news of the Mumbai terror attacks. Even though he had just become a father and hadn’t seen his newborn son yet, Singh and his team got ready to fight without wasting any time.
By the next morning, November 27, they reached Mumbai. From
there, Singh and his team were sent by helicopter to important places under
attack, like Nariman Point and the Taj Hotel. After many days of dangerous
fighting, they saved hostages and killed the terrorists.
Talking about the tough situation, Singh shared his deep
dedication to the country. He said, "My son was born on November 22, 2008.
I hadn't even seen him, but I went to protect our country from
terrorists."
At the Taj Hotel, where the rescue mission started, Singh
and his team worked hard to help people escape. Sadly, Major Sandeep
Unnikrishnan lost his life during the mission.
Singh explained their plan: “We started clearing the hotel
floor by floor. On the fourth floor, we killed one of the terrorists during a
search.”
While checking the second floor, Singh faced a grenade
attack. In that moment, he quickly jumped from the second floor and hid in a
nearby bar. Even though he was hurt, he kept fighting for around 90 minutes. He
even thought about using a grenade on himself to kill the terrorists. "I
knew I could also die, but I didn't care about my life," he said.
Before he could do that, other NSG commandos broke the wall
and came to rescue him. Despite being injured, Singh went back to the fight. He
threw a grenade where the terrorists were hiding, then went in and started
firing.
"I fought two terrorists using my hands. I pulled out
my knife and stabbed them while shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Sahas ki
Vijay'. This helped my team know that I was fighting at close range," he
said.
Singh and his team killed four terrorists in total. But
Singh got badly injured. “I was shot in both my legs, and I have splinter marks
all over my body. The treatment after that took a long time,” he shared.
Now, Singh is happy that Tahawwur Rana is being sent to
India. Rana is accused of helping plan the Mumbai attacks. Singh feels this is
a step towards justice for the people who died in the attacks.
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