His left hand still in a cast and bandages all over his torso, this 26-year-old NSG commando hasn’t lost his determination. “Chupke se waar kiya, warna sab terrorist ko chun chun ke marta (they crept up and attacked, otherwise I would have killed each one of them),” says Sunil Kumar Jodha, who was an escort to the late Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan.

Jodha didn’t count how many bullets were fired at his body before the last one went through his bullet-proof jacket and nearly pierced his abdomen. So it was only when he was admitted to Bombay Hospital that the young man found out he had eight gunshot wounds and serious injuries from grenade blasts.

Recuperating in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), he says, “Just like any other day, we reported to work at 11 pm last Wednesday in Delhi. Within an hour we got instructions to head to Taj Mahal hotel and by 3 am we left for the operation,” says Jodha, who hails from Alwar, Rajasthan.

His brother-in-law Umendra Singh says Jodha called his wife before flying to Mumbai. “This could be my last call, I may not come back,” he had said.

Working in small teams in the rescue operation at Taj Mahal hotel, 14 NSG commandos entered the hotel from the roof after they received information that there were three suspected terrorists.

Jodha’s team first stormed the new Taj and then entered the old heritage building, where, on the fourth floor’s room number 471, they encountered the terrorists. “All the terrorists were dressed well and were clean shaven. It was very difficult to distinguish them from civilians,” recalls Jodha. “Before any communication, one started shooting. We heard the firing and fired back. The terrorists continuously fired shots. Major Sandeep was killed in the firing.”

... contd.