NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy's 1971 operation against Pakistan was a covert one, carried out by 432 volunteers who underwent strenuous training to emerge as Naval Commandos, officers shared on Saturday during the New Delhi World Book Fair 2026.
The covert operation occupied the centrestage during a panel discussion at Bharat Mandapam during the nine-day fair, themed 'Indian Military History: Valour and Wisdom @75'.
Navy veteran Commander Vijai Kapil, Sandeep Unnithan, who authored Operation X – The untold story of India’s covert naval war in East Pakistan 1971 along with Captain M N R Sawant, and Commander Neeraj Vashisth were the participants.
Commander Kapil, a key player in the covert operation, relived the secrecy and the planning behind the operation. "We began our preparations for 'Operation Jackpot' by April 1971 itself, though we launched our first attack on the morning of August 15. It was the biggest coordinated waterborne attack ever and damaged the shipping in Pakistan. More than 400 volunteers were trained and transformed into water-borne combatants," he said.
Reliving other key operations, victories and losses in its aftermath during 1971 in the run up to the war, the Vir Chakra awardee said, "'Operation Jackpot' was followed by 'Operation Hotpants' on November 10, 'Operation Force Alfa', then an air offensive by INS Vikrant on Eastern Seaboard, the sinking of PNS Ghazi off Vishakapatnam harbour, the loss of INS Khukri, loss of Alize aircraft and finally 'Operations Trident' and 'Python' on December 4 and 8 respectively.”
Author Unnithan, whose father held key positions in the Indian Navy, billed the operation as a very unusual one and the largest operation of its kind in naval history. “It was carried out by the strangest team ever assembled. The team completely paralysed shipping in East Pakistan through its riverine assaults. During 'Operation Jackpot', 200 commandos attached four ports extending to 500 sq km in one night and destroyed them. They were trained to attach Limpet Mines to the sides of the ships of Pakistan.”
The Indian Armed forces are very good at safeguarding secrets, and hence so many aspects related to the mission remain shrouded in secrecy, he added.
Unnithan also recalled the perplexity of the Naval Intelligence when they learnt that thousands of condoms were being shipped from Hindustan Latex Limited in Kerala during this period. Elaborating on the crucial role that condoms played in the success of the operation, Unnithan said, “The soluble plug of the Limpet Mine had to be kept dry when being transported through water as they could explode and endanger the commandos carrying them. The condom was used to wrap the plug. After they were tagged onto the ship, the condom would be removed by the commando and the explosion would happen half an hour later.”
