How Rfn Chunni Lal helped in the capture of Bana post on Siachen glacier. An extract.
Lt Gen. Satish Dua (retd)
Naib Subedar Bana Singh was tasked up with five soldiers—Chunni was happy to be chosen for this assault. He was also happy that LD also requested the Company Commander Viru’s permission, to let him join the assault; he was carrying Viru’s radio set. ‘I think I will also go in with the assault’, said Viru.
‘No Sir’, said Bana. ‘You will be required to coordinate all groups with the higher HQ and artillery fire support etc. I will lead this assault and you can follow closely.’
Viru said silent prayer in his heart, Waheguru, raksha karna. (Waheguru protect them). Aloud he said rather gruffly to hide his emotions, ‘Ya kabza karna, ya marna. Piche aaoge toh main shoot kar doonga.’ (Capture it or die. If you retreat I’ll shoot you.). He said this in a positive motivational sense, not as a threat, and the soldiers understood that perfectly well.
The assault section stood around him. It would have made an interesting picture, an aerial shot, which looked awkwardly like the Indian cricket team’s huddle, all dressed in white snow clothing, against the background of whiter snow. Normally they would’ve shouted out the paltan battle cry, ‘Bole Jaikara!,’ (Hail Victory!) followed by ‘Durge Mata ki Jai!’ (Victory to Mother Durga!) three times. But in proximity of the enemy, surprise is of the essence and pin-drop silence was maintained.
Naib Subedar Bana, Hav. Balwant and Rfn Om Raj gave covering fire, as Rfns Chunni and LD moved from a flank (from a side), crouching as low as possible to escape detection. Viru called for artillery fire support to cover their movement. He took the shoot himself. Taking a shoot means you apply corrections to the artillery fire by observing how far from the target the shells are falling. He passed the corrections on the radio set to the artillery gun position and expertly arranged for an air burst of artillery fire, which is most effective in suppressing the enemy. When a shell explodes on impact, half of its shrapnel gets embedded in the ground or snow. In an airburst mode, the shell is made to explode in the air just above the target—it calls for skilled shooting—and the shrapnel burst gets an enhanced range and effect. This is enough to keep enemy’s head down for some time.
Taking advantage of this, LD and Chunni darted across. They crossed the bunker which had been captured by Sansar’s section, also crossed over a few bodies of our fallen soldiers. They reached close to the enemy bunker. It was eerily quiet for a bit. Chunni prepared to log a grenade inside. He remembered Hav. Balwant giving him last minute instructions before they started, ‘Be very careful, if the grenade falls outside the enemy bunker, you will die.’ Very consciously, he pulled out the pin with his mouth, as he couldn’t get his gloved finger inside the ring, and lobbed the grenade at the enemy bunker. His worst fears came true.
It hit close to the loophole of the bunker, but not close enough and fell outside. Both Rfn Chunni Lal and LD promptly lay face down in the snow and braced for the explosion. There was no time to do anything else. A hand grenade takes four seconds to explode. It seemed like eternity. They were so close to it and in the open that Chunni knew it was the last moments of his life, and he had only himself to blame. Even LD would die because of his mistake. He thought of his mother, how much she would cry when she hears of his death. His father would act brave in front of other, but would break down when alone. Time stretched even more. It appeared more than eternity. They couldn’t believe their luck. It was a ‘blind’, it did not explode at all. What a relief. Finally, something misfired to their advantage.
Relief gave way to anxiety, how to proceed ahead? They were so near yet so far. How could they engage the objective effectively? Our own posts were engaging the enemy by machine-gun fire, and artillery shelling was intermittent. It would be ideal to throw another grenade into the loophole. But even if they threw in the grenade, there was a small risk that an alert enemy soldier could swiftly pick it up and throw it back at them through the loophole.
The training to beat that was an extremely risky manoeuvre, which is what Rfn Chunni Lal decided to do. He crawled very close to the bunker, pulled the pin out with his mouth, released the lever and held the grenade in his hand for a second and then pushed it carefully inside the bunker. This way the grenade had only two seconds to explode. No time for the enemy to throw it back. And their prayers were answered. There was a loud though muffled explosion inside the bunker. They heard the cries of the Pakistani soldiers, ‘Ya Allah!’
***
‘Oye Chunni’, Nb Sub. Bana called out cautiously. Rifleman Chunni looked over his shoulder, saw Nb Sub. Bana and Hav. Balwant closing in and gave them a thumbs up, signalling success. Relieved to see LD and Chunni well, they both crawled forward and joined them.
Now that they had exchanged abuses, the enemy soldiers were very alert from this direction, which must’ve seemed so unseemly to them for months, and they felt secure because of that. Now any amount of supporting firing from our posts would not distract them. Bana Singh, Balwant, Chunni and LD were in a fix on how to proceed across the few yards to the bunker. Frontal attacks are most difficult and risky. Our artillery shelling had stopped because our troops—notably Bana, Balwant, Chunni and LD—were on the objective in the open. Artillery shelling from the enemy side continued. The four couldn’t stay in the open for long and survive and Rfn Chunni Lal suggested to his section commander, Nb Sub. Bana, that while the most risky move would be to attack frontally, it seemed the only option.
Surprise would be on their side, enemy would least expect them to do so. They also seemed to be low on ammunition, as their firing from machine gun was very controlled and intermittent. A man in such close proximity of the enemy would let loose belts after belts of ammunition, as he had adequate stocks. Their morale was bound to be low, because a part considered to be unreachable had been breached and they had suffered so many casualties.
Naib Subedar Bana looked at Hav. Balwant. He nodded. Then he gave a questioning look to Rfn LD, who gave a thumbs up. One shell landed a little distance away, and pieces of shrapnel whizzed close past them. There was no time to be wasted. There was also no time for prayer or a pep talk or a huddle, the customary rituals before an attack so Nb Sub. Bana just gave a thumbs up and they started crawling forward with a silent prayer in their hearts. It was a very audacious move, completely foolhardy.
***
Hence, they crawled around the bunker and amidst more shells landing close by, reached around to the entrance of the bunker. It was blocked by jerry cans piled-up haphazardly. Chunni signalled to the others to stop and take positions, while he would lob a grenade inside. Soldiers always disperse and take positions rather than remain together, so that one grenade or artillery shell does not hit all of them.
Chunni moved closer to the entrance and lobbed the grenade after removing the pin. It did not reach inside the bunker, but fell clumsily among the jerry cans and Chunni ducked behind the corner of the bunker wall. Two enemy soldiers rushed out. From the other side of the entrance Bana rushed and shot one at point blank range. All others also started firing at the running soldiers. At such close range it was hard to miss. The enemy soldiers did not stand a chance. The scene got firmly etched in Chunni’s mind.
Major Varinder and Rfn. Nek Ram, who were close behind, also reached and Nek Ram lobbed a grenade inside the bunker to clear it. He then sprayed bullets from his carbine to ensure that no one was left alive. It was unbelievable. It did not sink in easily. Then they all hugged. They did Bhangra. Suddenly their fatigue vanished. They felt like they were on top of the world. It also looked like it was the top of the world.
BRAVE OF THE BRAVEST: THE INSPIRING STORY OF NAIB SUBEDAR CHUNNI LAL,
AC, VRC, SM
Lt Gen. Satish Dua
HarperCollins, Pg 213, Rs 399