A narrow escape in anti-insurgency op

MP Nathanael

BACK in November 1974, as a Deputy Superintendent of Police, I was commanding a company of the Central Reserve Police Force in Tamenglong district of Manipur. Around midnight, my Commanding Officer (CO), Surjeet Singh Gill, told me on the phone that I was to lead an operation in Old Tamenglong village, a few kilometres away. Since I was short of personnel, additional troops were sent from the battalion headquarters, along with a detailed plan of operations.

Around 2 am, two platoons commanded by sub-inspectors arrived from the headquarters, which was about a kilometre away. While the two platoons were to plug likely escape routes, I had to lead a platoon to raid the hideout of insurgents on the periphery of the village at the break of dawn.

Having briefed all three platoons, we left for Old Tamenglong village. We had to cover the distance stealthily, avoiding the crushing of leaves lest the dogs should bark and reveal our movements, alerting the insurgents. While it was still dark, we were in our respective positions. At dawn, I advanced towards the village, with my men following me. Soon, we were near the hideout. I spotted an insurgent in a clearing. No sooner had he seen me, he fired with his Chinese SLRs (self-loading rifle). All hell broke loose. Amidst a heavy exchange of fire, I sustained bullet injuries in the legs and fell on the ground, though I continued to fire till I ran out of bullets. While I lay on the ground, firing, the insurgents continued to spray bullets from behind a wall of boulders on my right. It was just providence that I was not hit, though I could see dust flying around whenever the bullets hit the ground.

Having exhausted the bullets, I rolled back to a safer place behind a boulder, where a constable had taken position with a mortar. I directed another constable to lob grenades at the hideout. With grenades exploding, the firing ceased. The hideout was immediately cordoned off by my men and the insurgents came out with their hands raised. Their hands were tied and I was shifted to a cot.

A little later, my CO arrived with reinforcements, took stock of the situation and evacuated me to the district hospital. A huge haul of sophisticated weapons, such as Chinese SLRs, carbines and pistols, along with hundreds of rounds, were recovered. The self-styled CO of 1st Naga Battalion and four others were arrested; a corporal died in the encounter.

It was a successful operation, no doubt, but the escape of a few insurgents upset me. Having got wind of our men positioned on probable escape routes, they took a detour and fled. Since then, I have often pondered how they managed to escape. Had we arrested them, we would have had a good number of insurgents in our custody.

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