New Delhi, Sep 23 - The body of the Indian Navy marine commando (Marco) Chandrashekhar, who was killed in a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, will be brought to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh for last rites Thursday, a navy official said.
Petty Officer Clearance Diver-I Chandrashekhar was transferred to the marcos' camp located on Wullar, a 65 sq km freshwater lake, in Baramulla. His mandate was to control the infiltration of terrorists from across the border to Jammu and Kashmir through Wullar Lake.
'Yesterday (Tuesday) evening terrorists attacked the marcos camp. In retaliatory fire, one terrorist was killed and one marco died,' a senior Indian Navy official said.
'His body will be brought home to Muzaffarnagar tomorrow (Thursday) for cremation. Another marco was injured in the gunfight,' he said.
Chandrashekhar is survived by his wife and two children.
Sporting long beards and toting AK-47 assault rifles, marcos can be mistaken for militants and they follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-terrorism doctrine: 'Fight a militant like a militant'.
Dubbed as the 'bearded force' by the militants, Marcos have a knack of executing covert operations. They were called in along with National Security Guards (NSG) and army commandos to fight armed militants holed up inside two luxury hotels in Mumbai last year.