‘There was no fear in his eyes’

NSG commando Hawaldar Rajveer Singh, who is recuperating at the intensive care unit of the Bombay Hospital, recounts on Saturday how late Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan led their team from the front when they were combing for the terrorists room by room inside the Taj Hotel.

After clearing the 5th and the 6th floor of the Taj hotel, the teams came down to the fourth floor where a hotel staffer was opening the rooms with a master key. When they reached room 471, the staffer knocked from outside but did not get any response. “But the staffer could feel there was some movement inside the room,” said Singh, 33, who has sustained burn injuries on his face and a bullet injury on his left hand.

Sensing some foul play, Singh asked the staffer to open the lock and step aside. “We had some information that the terrorists may be wearing red, blue and green coloured shirts,” said Singh. “A man wearing a red coloured shirt opened the door but he was not holding any weapons,” he said. “I asked him to put his hands up because his body language was suspicious,” said Singh. “There was no fear or anxiety in his eyes that we witnessed in other hostages and this confirmed our doubts that he could be one of the terrorists,” said Singh.

Even before the teams could negotiate with the suspected terrorists, someone started firing from behind. “Suddenly someone who was inside the room tried to run away and began firing at us and then we retaliated killing both the terrorists,” he said. “The suite opposite to 471 had an old lady staying there for the last 20-25 years,” he said.

Thereafter, they moved on to room no 425 whose door had to be blown with an explosive. “The explosion was so heavy and sudden that I lost my senses and fell on the ground,” said Singh, who hails from Haryana and is responding well to the treatment.

d_sumitra@dnaindia.net