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Elite Marine Commandos patrol the sea off Breach Candy

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

Two boats carrying the elite Marine Commandos of the Indian Navy are patrolling the sea front opposite the Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay where Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been admitted for a knee operation.

The Marcos are among the world's best special forces, with the capability of carrying out amphibious raids and working with airborne units in joint assault operations.

This is one of the rare occasions when the elite force is giving a protective cover to the prime minister, naval sources said.

According to the sources, two inflatable boats carrying up to 10 Marcos each will patrol the coast behind the hospital throughout Vajpayee's stay there.

The patrolling is being done at the request of the Special Protection Group, the elite commando force guarding the prime minister and other VIPs.

The Marcos are the only naval component deployed for the prime minister's security in Bombay. "We were not requested for any further assistance," the naval sources said. The rest of the security in the sea is being provided by the Coast Guard, which is also carrying out regular air reconnaissance. Coast Guard boats are keeping a continuous vigil by the shore behind the hospital.

Any deployment of naval ships for supervision would have been an expensive affair, the sources admitted. The daily operational coast of frontline ships such as the destroyer INS Delhi is around Rs 5 million. Even a Godavari-class frigate costs up to Rs 3.5 million a day to operate.

"Large ships would not have been a good option even if requested by the SPG," the sources said. The shallow waters off Breach Candy are not suitable for large ships, "but smaller patrol vessels are ideally suited given their manoeuvrability".

But, they said, "there is always a vigil by the Western Fleet in the Bombay seas".

The Marine Commando Force, comprising 1,500 personnel, is the pride of the Indian Navy and is modelled on the US Navy SEALS. Three officers who trained with the SEALS formed the basis for the present force, which was started as the Indian Marine Special Force in 1987.

Till 1987, it was the navy divers trained in the use of explosive devices and army units that were carrying out maritime operations against terrorists and other undesirables. In 1983, the 340 Independent Brigade of the Army based at Trivandrum was raised as a special maritime unit, in the run-up to the establishment of the Marine Special Force.

The special force was first seen in action in Sri Lanka when the Indian Peace-Keeping Force was deployed there. One of the units of the 340 Independent Brigade operated at Jaffna and Batticaloa along with the MSF.

Among the famous raids by the MSF was one on a base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at Guru Nagar on October 21, 1987, according to naval officials.

But it was in late 1988 that the force proved its mettle by carrying out a highly successful operation to crush a coup in the Maldives. When some 50 mercenaries escaped with more than 25 hostages, including a minister, in a ship, the MSF was pressed into service and it successfully seized the ship.

In 1991, the MSF was officially renamed the Marine Commando Force.

At present, the only place where the Marcos are in action is the Wular Lake in Kashmir, Asia's largest fresh-water lake, where they have achieved great success and stopped most of the infiltration by terrorists. The lake used to be a major infiltration route for terrorists.

The Marcos undergo one of the world's toughest training courses lasting more than two years. More than 50 per cent of the naval personnel recruited drop out of the course.

The Marcos are trained in handling a large variety of weapons, from poison-tipped arrows to machine-guns. They are also trained in conducting special warfare techniques, gathering intelligence and co-ordinating with airborne forces. Besides, they are expert parachutists and divers.

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