It is a year since National Security Guards successfully stormed the Akshardham temple complex in Gandhinagar, Gujarat after 28 pilgrims were killed by terrorists in a bloody attack that began on the evening of September 24, 2002 and ended the next morning.
Commandos from the National Security Guards' 51 Special Action Group went in for the kill at first light on September 25.
On the right side of the complex, behind a maze of construction and trees, the two terrorists had taken shelter. NSG commandos led by Brigadier Raj Seethapathy exchanged fire with the terrorists through the night. At first light, the commandos took out their targets.
In the night-long operation, the NSG lost one commando; two were injured, one grievously.
Subedar Suresh Kumar was killed by a bullet as he took position behind a tree. Dasrath Nand Dev Satpathi was wounded in his hand around 1.30 am when he surveyed the area with a senior officer.
The third casualty was Surjan Singh Bhandari who was seriously hurt by grenade splinters. A year later, he continues to fight death in an Ahmedabad hospital.
Dr Jayesh Shelat, neurosurgeon at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, says the commando is on an "artificial respiratory system with minimum activity of the brain." The NSG trooper underwent four surgeries over three months, but doctors do not see any hope of recovery as yet.
A senior NSG officer in New Delhi, who has been following the case, says, "He is being kept alive because medical science can do that," adding that it is "tough" for the commando's family.
NSG officers want to shift the commando to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi so that it becomes "easier for his family" to visit him from their home in Uttaranchal, especially his mother who wants to see her son.
In Ahmedabad his brothers Kanchan and Surjeet keep vigil on their sibling as doctors and medical staff treat the patient "with utmost care," adds an NSG officer.
Early this month, NSG headquarters sent a letter to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital saying they wanted to shift the commando to New Delhi. Dr Shelat says the commando could be shifted with a portable artificial respirator and a medical team accompanying him.
The Gujarat government has assured the NSG that it will bear the cost of shifting the commando to AIIMS, sources in New Delhi add. The commando's mother, Sureshi Devi, has signed the papers necessary for shifting her son to Delhi.
"The doctors don't expect much change after shifting him to AIIMS. But his mother and other family members can visit him easily," says an NSG officer.
NSG officers in New Delhi say the commando could be shifted to New Delhi on September 25 exactly a year after he went into a coma, or a day later.
Photograph: Binu Alex
