A brazen cover-up that rewrote Indian naval history

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Mistakes committed by naval officers, including the commanding officer (CO) of INS Khukri, led to the sinking of the warship and the death of 200 of its crew during the 1971 war with Pakistan, according to documents with DNA.

The findings overturn official naval claims and published history on the sinking of the Khukri by Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor at the height of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It also raises uncomfortable questions about numerous gallantry awards given out by the government to many involved in the incident.

DNA has two letters written to President APJ Abdul Kalam by Commander Benoy Bhushan, one of 12 pages and the other of 24, who was directed by the flag officer commanding-in-chief, Western Naval Command, to establish where the Khukri was sunk. The findings remain under wraps till date.

Bhushan confirmed the authenticity of the two letters, and their claims have been substantiated by at least one survivor and other sources.

Though the principal director of naval operations told Bhushan that his report was declassified in early 2005, naval headquarters refused DNA a copy and also failed to respond to a detailed questionnaire sent by DNA.

According to the official version, a Pakistani submarine torpedoed and sank the Khukri on the night of December 9, 1971. It is the single biggest wartime casualty of independent India. There was never a court of inquiry to find out if anyone was responsible for the ship going down.

DNA’s investigation reveals that in their last moments some 250 officers and sailors of the Khukri were abandoned by INS Kirpan, an accompanying naval ship that should have carried out an immediate counterattack.

It also reveals that the navy’s claim that it hunted and sank the Pakistani submarine a few hours later to be false. The Hangor returned to Karachi harbour safely.

Cdr Bhushan, in his letter, says, “The circumstances in which the Khukri was torpedoed and sunk were never disclosed for decades. ... Truth needs to be brought to light to set the record straight and also to learn valuable lessons.”   

Bhushan was CO of INS Investigator when he was asked to probe the incident.

“The Khukri, in company with another A/S (anti-submarine) ship Kirpan, was torpedoed and sunk without even an engagement with the enemy. Eighteen officers and 176 sailors perished with the Khukri. Both the COs deserved to be punished, but the higher authorities gave them gallantry awards. INS Khukri and INS Kirpan violated every principle of A/S doctrine for hunter killer operations,” Bhushan told DNA.


Bhushan says he was forced to open his mouth after so many years after he accidentally stumbled” upon the official history of the Indian Navy, ‘Transition to Triumph’, published by the historical cell of naval headquarters. “The details of the Khukri sinking and the appended maps stunned me,” he said.

“Higher authorities in the navy during the 1971 war manipulated facts to write a false history of heroism and courage whereas the truth points a glaring finger at the level of training at its lowest ebb, inefficiency, incompetence, dereliction of duty, and erosion of moral and ethical values.”

In his letter to the President, Bhushan has appealed to Kalam to bring “truth to light to expose the persons who have misused their powers to suppress the truth regarding the circumstances in which Khukri was torpedoed and sunk; and to hide blunders committed by themselves (sic).”

DNA investigated Bhushan’s claims with at least one survivor and some others who were privy to the incident and the inquiry.

Additional reporting in Mumbai by Shweta Karnik and Dharmendra Tiwari