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| Maneesh, Kannoth House, Azheekkode, Kannur |
He had attended the Army recruitment camp at the behest of a friend. But when results came, he was in and his friend was out.
Thus began the career of Maneesh, one of the commandos who shot dead two terrorists who had holed up in Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai in November 2008.
As part of the operation, he and another commando pried a room open with explosives. A volley of bullets greeted them. Inside there were hostages. So firing along the walls, they tightened the noose... A single bullet from the terrorists and a hostage fell down dead. That was the trigger.
Under cover of fire, they barged into the room. The shadow of a terrorist near the bathroom on the left… marksmanship of a trained hand…the terrorist fell down with the cry ‘Allah’.
The next moment, at the far end of the room, another terrorist trying to use his gun with his wounded left hand. A volley of bullets and he too fell down. But with the last gasp of energy, he threw a grenade.
Maneesh ducked. But the next moment, he felt something piercing his helmet and skull. He was evacuated and woke up in the hospital after 4 days.
His right limbs had been paralysed and there was darkness in the right eye. But thanks to the oxygen therapy of Dr.Bhuvathi, he was soon on the fast track of recovery.
He remembers with gratitude the Malayalee nurses of Mumbai who vied with each other to keep his spirits high. They fed him home-cooked food and kept his mind alert with constant conversation.
Earlier, in the Kargil war, he had to jump from a height following enemy fire. He broke his hips and doctors advised him not to lift weights or engage in strenuous work...
But he had gone on to become a commando. When passion was in, worry was out.
Courtesy:
C.Narayanan (text), Pushpajan Thaliparamba (photo), Gruhalakshmi,
February 2009
Contributed by: Administrator
