Crack commando recounts being shot by Mumbai attackers

By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian commando Sunil Kumar Yadav spent nine hours searching for Islamist militants inside Mumbai's vast Taj Mahal hotel before he was fired on.

Yadav and his elite Black Cat commando squad, working in pairs, had cleared three floors of the hotel, escorting frightened guests to the fire escape through dark and smoke-filled corridors, when they came to a door which would not open with a master key.

"It was locked from inside," the bearded, 29-year-old commando told reporters from a hospital bed. "So we kicked down the door and charged a grenade."

Smoke filled the room and instantly a hail of bullets was fired from inside.

"There was one militant - fair, lean, about 20-25 years of age," said Yadav, recalling returning the fire from his MP5 machine pistol. The militant carried an AK-47 rifle and wore a vest of grenades.

"There was a fierce exchange of fire. We could see he was burned from the fire started by the grenade," said Yadav.

"At some point I was hit on my legs."

Yadav was dragged to safety by Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was later fatally shot, the only casualty from India's elite commando force during the operation.