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Bangladesh Naval Commando Operations in the 1971 war: Operation Jackpot

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leonblack08

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The following thread might not go down well with the Pakistani brothers but it is fact.


Operation Jackpot

Operation Jackpot was the codename assigned to 4 simultaneous operations launched by the Indian Navy and the Bangladesh naval commandos Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The original Operation Jackpot was the logistical and training operation set up under the Indian Army Eastern Command to aid the Mukti Bahini led insurgency. The Naval commando operation that sabotaged Pakistani ships in Chittagong, Chandpur, Mongla and Naryanganj on the 15th of August is known in Bangladesh as Operation Jackpot. The confusion about the date of operation was also clarified in this book. Though Major Rafiqul Islam wrote the operation was done on the 16th. Finally, the operational plan of Lt Gen Sagat Singh, commanding the Indian Army IV corps and Mukti Bahini personnel against Pakistani forces defending the eastern sector (Syhlet, Comilla, Noakhali and Chittagong districts) during December 3-16 may have been named Operation Jackpot.

Bangladesh naval commando operation (August 16, 1971)


Bangladesh naval commando operation actually originated at Toulon, a coastal city of Southern France. In 1971, there were 11 naval crews of East Pakistan who were receiving training in a Pakistani submarine. Among them, only one commissioned officer (Mosharraf Hassain) and 8 crews decided to take the submarine and to fight against Pakistani. However, their plan was disclosed and they had to ran away under severe death threats from Pakistani intelligence. Out of these 9 crews, one were killed by Pakistani Intelligence and rest of the 8 managed to travel to Indian Embassy in Geneva, Switzerland. From Geneva, Indian Embassy took them to New Delhi on the 9th of April at 9:30 a.m. and set up a top secret naval training for them. After the Pakistani Army had driven the Mukti Bahini into India, Bangladesh forces entered a period of reorganization to train guerrillas, set up networks and safe houses in the occupied territories to run the insurgency and rebuild the conventional forces during June/July of 1971. As the pace of operations slacked off, the civilian morale was adversely affected, which prompted Pakistani authorities claiming that the situation was normal in East Pakistan. 2 specific operations were launched in response, 1) Guerrilla attacks in targets in Dhaka by a crack commando group trained by Major ATM Haider (Ex SSG commando) of Sector 2, and the simultaneous mining and damaging of ships in Chittagong, Chandpur, Mongla and Narayanganj on the 15th of August, which known in Bangladesh and international media as Operation Jackpot.

Setup and Training

After initial training in Delhi under commader Sharma and *** chief Brd. Gupta, from April 25 to May 15, the Indian trainers planned for bigger actions. The river transport system was vital for economic activity given the primitive state of the road and railways system of the then East Pakistan. Indian commander Bhattachariya, major Jalil and Colonel M.A.G. Osmani in collaboration with top regional commanders established the secret camp codenamed C2P in Plassy, West Bengal on May 23, to train volunteers selected from various Mukti Bahini sectors (Bangladesh was divided in 10 operational sectors for Mukti Bahini operations) for this purpose. Initially 300 volunteers were chosen, ultimately 499 commandos were trained in the camp. The course included swimming, survival training, using limpet mines, hand to hand combat and navigation. By August 1971, the first batch of commandos were ready for operation.
 
The Operation

The operation was planned in the last week of September, under tight security. Information on river tides, weather and Pakistani infrastructure and deployment was collected through the Mukti Bahini. Selected commandos were sent from C2P to forward bases in Tripura and West Bengal, where a final briefing was given to them. Mukti Bahini in Sector 1 assisted the group going to Chittagong, Sector 2 aided the groups going to Chandpur and Naryanganj and Sector 9 assisted the group targeting Mongla. Each commando carried a pair of fins, a knife, a limpet mine, and swimming trunks. Some had compasses, 1 in 3 commandos had sten guns and hand grenades, the group leaders carried a transistor radio. All the groups carried their own equipment to their targets and after entering Bangladesh between August 3/9, reached their destinations by August 12th, using the local Mukti Bahini network of safe houses. A pair of songs was played in India Radio (Akashbani)at specific times to convey the intended signal for commencing the operations. The first song (Amar putul ajke prothom jabe shoshur bari) was played on the 13th of August, the second song (Ami tomay joto shuniyechilem gan tar bodole chaini kono dan) on the 14th.

The result of this operation was:

• Chittagong: 60 commandos were sent, out of which 31 finally took part in the sabotage operation on the 16th. Between 1:45 to 2:15AM explosions sank the MV Al-Abbas, the MV Hormuz and the Orient barge no.6, sinking 19,000 tons of arms and ammunitions.
• Chandpur: 18 out of 40 commandos finally took part in the operation. 3 steamers/barges were damaged or sunk.
• Narayanganj: 20 commandos conducted the sabotage operation. 4 ships were sunk or damaged.
• Mongla: 20 commandos managed to damage 6 foreign owned ships.

The simultaneous attacks on Pakistani shipping assets on August 16th destroyed the myth of normalcy in East Pakistan when the news was flashed in the international media.
 
Naval Commandos killed in Operation Jackpot

* Commando Abdur Raquib, who was killed in Foolchhori Ghat Operation
* Commando Hossain Farid, who was killed in second Chittagong operation. He was caught by Pakintaki army. They put him in a manhole and bend his body until his vertebral column was broken.
* Commando Khabiruzzaman, who was killed in second operation in Faridpur
* Comamndo Sirajul Islam, M. Aziz, Aftab Uddin, and Rafiqul Islam, nothing further known about them.

Naval Commandos Who Received Bangladesh 'National Hero' Recognition

* Mr. A.W. Chowdhury- Beer Uttam
* Mr. Badiul Alam- Beer Uttam
* Dr. Shah Alam- Beer Uttam
* Mr. Mazhar Ullah- Beer Uttam
* Mr. Sheikh Md. Amin Ullah- Beer Uttam
* Mr. Abedur Rahman- Beer Uttam
* Mr. Mosharraf Hossain- Beer Uttam (His honor was revoked by the ruling Government of Bangladesh)
* Mohammad Khabiruzzan- Beer Bikrom
* Mr. Momin Ullah Patwari- Beer Protik
* Mr. Shahjahan Kabir- Beer Protik
* Mr. Faruq-e-Azam- Beer Protik
* Mohammad Rahmatullah-Beer Protik
* Mohammad Mojjamel Hossain- Beer Protik
* Mr. Mosharraf Hossain- Beer Uttam * (His honour was revoked by the Government of Bangladesh)
 
Bangladeshi Soldiers are second to none

When you decided to sabotage their ships Bangladesh's Armed Forces Officers succeded in accomplisihng their objective of destroying Pakistani Ships - rendering them useless for attacking Bangladesh

LeonBlack. buddy do you know that you defeating Pakistan is taken up as Case Studies because of the brilliant strategy you applied to achieve the most comprehensive defeat any country has imposed on another country in War Colleges in the US and UK

Bangladesh is truly blesssed to have been a country were such brave and daring Officers have served their country with pride

[Okay, now Pakistani member might challenge my statement that their 1971 defeat is taken as Case study in military strategy and planning by War Colleges in the US and UK.
Let me clarify to you that this had been told to my friends father who is currently a Colonel and was part of the Indian Army contingent that took part in the international endurance and tactical competition in Africa. His fellow officers from the US and UK had informed him so.
Some US and UK members of this forum could be requested to clarify this statement to remove any lingering doubts]
 
Nice, our Bangladeshi brothers must be very proud of themselves.

His fellow officers from the US and UK had informed him so.

Yes what an irrefutable way of verifying. Thank you for your effort.
 
Nice, our Bangladeshi brothers must be very proud of themselves.



Yes what an irrefutable way of verifying. Thank you for your effort.

Why brother?! Could you not just resist yourself from saying something negative to our Indian friend's post here?! :whistle: What did he say wrong?! That role of Bangladeshis in winning the war in 1971 with Indian help?! or that Pakistan was beaten comprehensively in 1971?! or the quality of the Bangladeshi officers?

---------- Post added at 02:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 AM ----------

Thanks for the post Leonblack! I heard about another great successful attack by either Kader bahini or Hemayet bahini on Pakistani ship carrying ammunitions around the North of Dhaka... you have information on that??
 
original Operation Jackpot was the logistical and training operation set up under the Indian Army Eastern Command to aid the Mukti Bahini led insurgency.


THANK YOU.....really destroys the MYTH that india was not involved.....
 
Brother, it Could have been a better way to get liberated rather then doing this, the "commandos" you talk about cause many of innocent bengali villagers to pay the price when PA confusingly executed them as susspected "commandos" who "usually" take part in such operations, you could have waited littile more for a political solution as uprising against political injustice in east Pakistan was on its verge of instigation here in west, could have been a better way, but you decided to join hands with indian policy makers, any ways good luck, just tell me why you guys now have a half a million military against whom, the “occupiers” are now sitting way too far from you is it just a precautionary measure against your “friends”.
 
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