How One MARCOS Commando Took Down Terrorists? - Former MARCOS

I pulled the pin. I threw it. I counted to ten. The grenade did not explode. To this day, that grenade has never been investigated.

The Shaurya Chakra recipient and former MARCOS commando was telling us the most institutionally damaging account we have published of any modern Indian military operation.

The Entry

The room next to the chamber hall was where the four terrorists were hiding. Teotia entered first.

“Andar ghuse, main andar gaya hoon main. 10 meter chala hoon karib. To mujhe right side se mujhe do AK47 ki aawaaz sunai di.”

Ten metres in, he heard two AK47s. Two terrorists confirmed.

The Taj security team had switched off the lights. The MARCOS team went from light into darkness. Vision was zero. Teotia took a metal chair and held it against his face. There was no other cover.

The First Round

“Tab tak to unhone firing kar di. To poora jaise mujhe flash, flash dikhai diya to main samajh gaya goli chal gayi to maine bhi trigger daba diya.”

The flash. The shots. He fired back. Then he fell. He did not know he had been hit. The blood pouring near his ear is what brought him back.

“Khoon garam garam khoon idhar. Kaan ke aaspaas mein poora bahna shuru hua.”

The hot blood near his ear. The ear had been destroyed.

The Buddy Abandonment

This is where the account becomes uncomfortable.

His buddy was the team commander. An NDA passout. A Sword of Honor winner.

“Switch jaise hi safety catch change hua, sab gayab. Mera buddy bhaaga mujhe chhodkar.”

The moment the safety catch changed, everyone disappeared. The buddy ran.

“Mujhe bataya nahi. Usne mujhe tap bhi nahi kiya. Usne mujhe fallback bhi nahi bola.”

The buddy did not tell him to fall back. Did not tap him. Did not signal. Whatever was communicated was communicated only to the rest of the team.

“Buddy ka niyam toda na usne.”

He broke the buddy rule.

The Gallantry Without Injury

“Kuch bhi nahi. Unko to gallantry mili uski.”

Nothing happened to the officer. He received the gallantry award.

“Aur unka injury vanjari kuch nahi. Sab bahar the na phir to.”

No injuries. He had been outside while Teotia was alone inside the room with the terrorists.

This is Teotia’s testimony. We are reporting his account as his characterisation.

The Village Memory

What saved Teotia was not training. It was farming.

“Mujhe yaad aaya yaar main gaaon mein apne saare kheton mein paani kaise karta tha. Ganne ke kheton ko akele kaise kaata tha. Sarson kaise kaata tha. Gehoon kaise kaata tha.”

He remembered irrigating fields. Cutting sugarcane alone. Cutting mustard alone. Cutting wheat alone.

“Wo cheez meri muscle memory mein thi phir.”

The muscle memory of doing things alone was already there.

“Iski aadat agar hai aapko akele karne ki to phir aap ghabraoge nahi. Akele to aapko paseena chhoot jaayega. Heart attack ho jaayega aapko agar aisi situation mein koi phans jaaye. Aapko poori jo training hai wo buddy ke saath hi hai from the beginning.”

If you have the habit of doing things alone, you will not panic. Otherwise you would sweat. You would have a heart attack. Because all training, from the beginning, is with a buddy.

The 30-Minute Solo Combat

Teotia took cover behind a sofa. He could see now.

“Single shot mein main maarta hoon. Alag-alag location.”

Single-shot firing. He kept moving his weapon up and down so the terrorists could not pinpoint his exact location. The combat became a two-way confusion of position.

The engagement lasted 25 to 30 minutes. The team outside thought he was dead.

“Team ne socha bhaiya ye to mar liya andar. Teotia ji to shaheed ho liye.”

They thought he had been martyred.

The Pakistani Special Forces Claim

The interviewer asked about the terrorists’ training.

“Unki training special forces ki thi. Special forces jo Pakistan ki hai unhone unko trained kiya hai. Ye main guarantee se likh ke de sakta hoon.”

Their training was special forces. The Pakistani special forces trained them. I will write this under guarantee.

The evidence was operational.

“Ab tak jitne bhi terrorist attack hue hain buddy pair mein sirf aur sirf ye Mumbai Taj hai.”

The Mumbai Taj attack was the only Indian terror operation conducted in buddy pair format. The buddy pair system is a special forces signature.

The Decision

The blood loss became unbearable.

“Mujhe laga yaar inko aise nahi maar sakte. To maine apna hand grenade nikaala. Isse behtar hai ki ab desh ke liye apne praanon ki aahuti yahin par dein.”

I could not kill them this way. Better to offer my life for the country right here.

“Option nahi hai aapke paas. Ye faisle neta to le nahi sakta. Ye faisle admiral bhi nahi le sakta. Kaleja chahiye, lohe ki chati chahiye.”

There is no option. Politicians cannot make this decision. Admirals cannot. You need iron in your chest.

A 23-year-old made it.

He pulled the pin. He threw the grenade. He counted to ten.

The Grenade Did Not Explode

“Grenade hi nahi phata. Aaj tak us grenade ki janch nahi hui.”

The grenade did not explode. No investigation has been conducted.

“Apne hi desh ke log dhokha de rahe hain. Ye aise log desh ke liye gaddaar, dhokhebaaz hain.”

His own country’s people had betrayed him.

The Friendly Fire Tear Gas

His own team then threw a tear gas grenade into the room. The tear gas exploded near him.

“Suffocation banna shuru ho gaya. Aankhon se paani jaane shuru ho gaya.”

When he coughed, the terrorists fired a burst at the cough.

“Gaye bhaiya ab yahaan se duniya ki koi taakat bacha hi nahi sakti ab to.”

The Final Stand

He stood up. He fired one last time. He tried to run for the door.

The terrorists fired a burst at him.

“Teen goliyan, char goliyan aur mere upar aayin. Chest ko peer kar gayi, lia aur poora aar paar nikal gayi. Phephde ko lekar nikal gayi. Ek magazine mein ghus gayi, ek ricochet hokar heart ke upar aayi, ek collar ka jo patta tha usko phaadte hue bahar nikli.”

Three bullets, four bullets came at him. One pierced his chest, took his intestine, pierced his lung. One went into the magazine. One ricocheted near his heart. One ripped through his collar.

He reached the door. He collapsed.

Declared Dead On Live TV

“Mritu ghoshit kar diya media walon ne mujhe usi samay pe ki ek commando shaheed.”

The media declared him dead. One commando martyred. Live on television.

He was still alive in the ambulance. His other buddy Lalan was telling him “Teotia saans leta reh, breathe, breathe.” The lung was destroyed. The breath would not come.

“Le raha hoon, kheenchoon saans nahi ruk rahi. Saans le raha hoon, saans na ruke.”

He survived. The five-kilometre ambulance ride to Ashvini Hospital. The medical assistant shouting for his name. The shouting was the last thing he heard. The other ear had been destroyed.

The Permanent Hearing Loss

The interviewer asked if he had hearing now.

“Nahi nahi. Ek hi kaan mein hearing hai.”

One ear. The other is gone.

The Intelligence Failure

The interviewer asked who the four Taj terrorists actually were. Teotia’s answer was bleak.

“Naam bataya nahi unhone kisi ne bhi. Asli naam kisko pata hai ki Kasab ne kya pata jhooth bola ho.”

Names were never confirmed. Whatever Kasab said became the official record. The real identities of the four Taj terrorists were never independently verified.

“Hamari intelligence bahut gajab kaam karti hai sach mein. Level ke hamari intelligence.”

Our intelligence does wonderful work. World class.

The sarcasm in his voice has not gone away in seventeen years.

What This Reveals

Three things from this segment will sit with anyone who reads it.

The village muscle memory principle. Training is necessary but not sufficient. The soldier who has done difficult things alone before joining the force has a psychological resilience that pure training cannot produce.

The buddy abandonment without consequence. A team commander broke the buddy rule. A soldier was almost killed because of it. The officer received the gallantry award. The institutional system that allows this is the system that needs to be examined.

The grenade that did not explode. Equipment failure in combat. No investigation. The institutional accountability gap that Teotia describes as betrayal by his own country.

Watch the full episode here: