ADC to Chinar Corps Commander from early 90s recalls:
The Gorkhas were pretty disorganized when we reached Kokernag Fire Station. It was a 3 storey building, pretty big, biggest in the area, with a few hundred metres of clear ground around. Gen Zaki reached the site before the brigade Commander and the GOC (Maj Gen VP Malik, later COAS). The JCOs of the Gorkha company told us that the terrorists were inside the building and they had cordoned it off. They also informed us that the company was ambushed on the Kokernag - Anantnag road. The Gorkhas lost a couple of men in the ambush and gave chase to the terrorists who were now holed up in Kokernag Fire Station. They surrounded it and a local headmaster was sent in to convince them to surrender. That headmaster was shot dead by the terrorists. During the night, few Gorkhas had tried to enter the building and two of them were shot at point blank range near the door. After which they reported the events to HQ and sat down.
It was just after day break when we reached and we found the cordon haphazard. So Gen Zaki asked me to go around the perimeter and reorganize the cordon. When I went around and returned, I found that Maj Gen Malik had also reached and his escort was also deployed, the 2 generals were discussing. Gen Zaki wanted to go into the building with his escort and Gen Malik and his esport were asked to provide covering fire. Meanwhile, the Gorkhas were asked to fire at anything that moved. After about 30 minutes, I was asked to go and inform the cordon to stop firing as our troops would enter the building. I was supposed to coordinate with the cordon and return to lead the Corps Commanders escort into the building. But when I returned, to my horror, I found that Gen Zaki and his escort had crawled towards the building and were mere 20m short of the building. Gen Zaki was unarmed but he wasn't going to stay behind!! Maybe he would strangle these terrorists!!! The escort who were all wearing bullet proof jackets and helmets were trying to form a body shield for the general. I dashed across the open ground in zigzag fashion and reached this party as we all simultaneously reached the building. I asked Gen Zaki to stay there under cover with one soldier and I was enter with the rest, when the house was cleared I would come and fetch him. He refused and demanded I hand over my grenades to him, which I did. Now Gen Zaki had 2 grenades, I had a pistol with 10 rounds and the men had Ak47s with 3 magazines each and 2 grenades each. I broke the glass of a ventilator above the door with my pistol butter and Gen Zaki lobbed in one grenades. After it exploded, he paused for about 5-10 seconds and lobbed in the second. Immediately after that too burst, I kicked the door in and entered. Behind me was the JCO and behind him was Nk Budhi Singh followed by Gen Zaki.
The explosions kicked up a lot of dust and smoke and we could hardly see. Entering through the door, we found ourselves in a 6 ft wide corridor and we were blinded as we came from bright snow covered outside to dark, dusty inside. I was about 14-15 ft inside the door and the last of the escort was Entering when we heard a burst of AK fire from further up the corridor, bullets whizzing past us and a couple of flashes through the smoke.
Miraculously all the bullets missed me and the JCO. One bullet hit Nk Budhi Singh on hit left palm, in which he was holding the barrel of his AK 47. The bullet, splinters and fragments from the rifle barrel richocheted up and hit Gen Zaki on the forehead and scalp. If he was an inch taller, he would have died then. But the firing stopped as abruptly as it started (guess they emptied a magazine and ran upstairs). As soon as the escort realised that Gen Zaki was hit, those behind him pulled him out of the door. Everyone scrambled for the door and jumped out, except me. I was too far into the corridor to make it to the door, so I dived into a room. Now I was all alone in this room on the ground floor, just 10 pistol rounds and no grenades. As Gen Zaki was being recovered to safety, Gen Malik ordered the Gorkhas to open fire, so machine guns from all sides started to hit the building. I wasn't worried as I took position in the room, covering the staircase with my pistol. Then the bullets fired by the Gorkhas started to go through the walls all around me. I then realized that though the structure was RCC, the walls were made of mud and hay, finished beautifully like a brick wall with smooth plastering. I found a pillar between 2 windows and put my back to it. Then I thought to let people know that I am alive, so leaned into the window and waved. Several long bursts of LMG fire were aimed at these windows. For 45 minutes I stayed there, bullets going through both windows as the Gorkhas thought they had one terrorist pinned between the windows. Soon they started to fire 84mm Carl Gustaf rockets HE rounds at the building. Relentlessly, one after the other. A truckload of ammunition had by now reached the site from the unit location and I had the task of trying to guess which side would be hit by the next rocket. Every 30 seconds or so, another rocket would be fired. The building was mostly dilapidated and I had lost my hearing but somehow, mind was sharper than ever. I was literally counting how much time it would take to reload, aim and fire. Using that time to run to the opposite side. Guessing right each and every time. God bless the Gorkhas for being predictable 🙏.
When the building was mostly destroyed and no movement could be seen for some time, the ADC of Gen Malik with his escort approached the building. This was Capt Khera of the Armoured Corps, son of a Maratha LI officer. I saw him when he was about 75m away and yelled out "Khera sir, stop firing, this is AP here". A lot of shouting ensued and the firing stopped. I kept talking to him as I reached the door. He said "Hurry up, Gen Zaki is hit in the head, RMO has done the dressing, but is refusing to be evacuated till he sees you, he thinks you may be in worse shape". I was take to where he was, convoy lined up, him lying in the back of a Jonga, barely awake.
When the building was mostly destroyed and no movement could be seen for some time, the ADC of Gen Malik with his escort approached the building. This was Capt Khera of the Armoured Corps, son of a Maratha LI officer. I saw him when he was about 75m away and yelled out "Khera sir, stop firing, this is AP here". A lot of shouting ensued and the firing stopped. I kept talking to him as I reached the door. He said "Hurry up, Gen Zaki is hit in the head, RMO has done the dressing, but is refusing to be evacuated till he sees you, he thinks you may be in worse shape". I was take to where he was, convoy lined up, him lying in the back of a Jonga, barely awake.
More, I stopped counting. That one day, I had more than 300 bullets pass me within arms reach. There were a few holes in my cap and uniform.
But that was the easy part. Every time they fired RL, I needed to guess which side was going to be hit, so I could run to the opposite side. One wrong guess and it would be curtains. But I predicted that the Gorkas wouldn't fire all 4 RLs on all 4 sides at once and was right, they fired one at a time. Then I guessed that the JCO would fire sequentially in clockwise direction and that turned out right too. Then I guessed that the interval between rockets would be roughly 30 to 45 seconds and even that was right. Then I guessed that the Gorkhas wouldn't change the firing pattern till they ran out of ammunition or the target was destroyed and again I was right. This unthinking, clockwork repetitive and entirely predictable pattern kept me alive.
Hearing impairment for a week was minor price to pay in the end. Recovered hearing fully.
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