Navy's best-kept secret to march out

Navy's best-kept secret to march out
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, JAN 22: Cyanide-tipped arrows and cross-bows amid tanks and howitzers. The Navy has an ace up its sleeve on the 50th Republic Day Parade, when it will unveil its secret power the marine commandos for the first time.

``For 13 years, the Navy kept the existence of these commandos a secret. They are perhaps the fittest men in the navy, who can even fire shoulder-fired missiles under water,'' Rear Admiral S.C.S. Bangara, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff said today. The commandos undertake all operations on land, in the air and under water, and are trained in mine disposal, underwater demolition and salvage operations, he added.

Since 1996, the commandos have killed a number of Pakistan-backed terrorist trying to sneak in from Wooler lake and the Jhelum river. A number of arms caches have also been recovered, Commander Rajiv Chandoke, the naval spokesman said while talking about the Naval contingent in the forthcoming Republic Day Parade. The marine commandos (MARCOS) are armed with cyanide-tipped fibre-glass arrows and have been using it to eliminate terrorist hideout sentries before going in for the kill.

``The Marcos, since their induction in Kashmir more than three years ago, have participated in a number of operations with Special Forces Regiment commandos and have also carried out independent operations killing terrorists,'' Commander Kapil Dhir, a Marcos officer said.

``We are called the deadly darhi wali fauj by the terrorists. Being from the Navy, we (can) keep a beard. We have intercepted several terrorist wireless messages saying that the army with a beard is approaching, so flee,'' Lieutenant Commander S. Dahiya, an officer posted in Kashmir who will led the Navy contingent, said.

The 49,000-strong Navy will present its face of the new millennium. Its theme is state-of-the-art technology with self-reliance as the motto. To talk about indigenisation, the naval tableaux will depict the three main classes of frontline war ships currently being built the Mysore class, Kora class and the Brahmputra class.