NEW DELHI: On Nov 26, 2008, former NSG commando Surender Singh was at the NSG campus in Manesar when news of the Mumbai terror attacks broke. Despite having a newborn son he had not yet met, Singh and his team immediately mobilised.
By the morning of Nov 27, they were in Mumbai. From there, an NSG squadron, including Singh’s team, was deployed by helicopter to key locations like Nariman Point and the besieged Taj Hotel. After days of intense combat, they successfully rescued hostages and neutralised the terrorists.
Recounting the harrowing events, Singh shared his profound commitment: “My son was born on Nov 22, 2008. I hadn’t even seen him, but I went to protect our country from terrorists,” he told TOI.
At the Taj Hotel, where they were dropped off to begin their rescue mission, Singh and his team tirelessly evacuated civilians. Tragedy struck with the death of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan.
Singh described their tactical approach: “We started clearing the hotel floor byfloor. On the fourth floor, we neutralised one of the terrorists during a search.”
While searching the second floor, Singh faced a grenade attack. In a split second, he leapt from the second floor and took cover inside a nearby bar. Though injured, he continued to engage the terrorists for approximately 90 minutes, even contemplating a suicidal grenade attack. “I knew I could also die, but I didn’t care about my life,” he remembered.
Before he could act on this, fellow NSG commandos breached the walls to extract him. Undeterred by his injuries, Singh soon rejoined the fight, throwing a grenade at the terrorists’ position before entering the area and firing. “I engaged in hand-to-hand combat with two terrorists, drawing my knife and stabbing them while shouting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Sahas ki Vijay’. This alerted my team to the close-quarters fight,” he said.
Singh and his team successfully neutralised four terrorists. However, Singh suffered severe injuries. “I was shot in both my legs, and I have splinter marks all over my body. The treatment that followed was lengthy,” he revealed.
Singh welcomed the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, expressing satisfaction that justice was finally being served for victims of the attacks.
