Dated 09th December 1971 , Thursday

Rupees 0.25 Paise

Dec 09: WESTERN SECTOR The IAF in its sustained operations against enemy targets has lost two aircraft. Both the pilots are missing in action. Flt N Shanker of 32 Sqn is missing over Lahore sector after being shot down by AA fire. Sqn Ldr A V Kamat of 10 Sqn was seen baling out after his Marut was shot down over Hyderabad.

Dec 09 : BOMBAY: The Indian Navy had repeated the attack on Karachi with devastating results yesterday night. The Pakistani Naval base of Karachi was attacked at around 2345 Hours and vast damage has been inflicted on both shore as well as ships in the vicinity.

The Navy force sent to attack had two components. One detachment consisted of two fast frigates INS Trishul and INS Talwar along with the OSA Missile boat, INS Vinash was tasked with attacking Karachi.

There was one Osa Missile boat among the flottilla that attacked Karachi last night.

The second detachment , which   consisted of the Flag Ship of the

Western fleet, the Cruiser  INS Mysore and the Hunt class destroyer INS Ranjit and the frigate INS Betwa was tasked with shelling the port of Gwadar off the Makran Coast. The Petya class patrol boat, INS Kadmatt was to join the first task force but had to fall back due to technical snags.

Approaching Karachi, INS Talwar under Cdr S S Kumar engaged a mechanised Dhow of the Pakistani Navy and sunk it with gunfire. Then the ships. [Read Full Story]

Dec 09  MADURAI: An Indian Airlines Avro HS-748 aircraft today crashed enroute  from Trivandrum to Madurai at Chinnamanur approximately 7.00 am . 17 Passengers and 4 Crew members perished when the Avro (VT-DXG) slammed into a mountain. Fortunately, there were ten survivors. A list of passengers has been released by the DGCA.
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Dec 09  NEW DELHI: A Spokesman today released the casuality figures for the Indian Armed Forces for the first week's fighting in this war. The Indian Army has lost 1933 troops killed, and 73 missing. The Airforce has lost 5 aircrew killed and 28 missing. The Navy which suffered its first casualities only today has 195 personnel missing.

Previous Issues

Dec 09, Western Sector: The Indian Navy has reported the loss of INS Khukri, a Type-14 Anti Submarine Warfare Frigate off the coast of Kathaiwar to an enemy submarine. More than 195 of the crew members are missing and presumed dead. Rescue efforts are going on. The tragic news comes closely on the news of the sucessful attacks on the Karachi Harbour last night and the capture of the Pakistani Merchant ship Madhumati.

The incident occurred just a few hours back at around 8.00 pm, when INS Khukri and INS Kirpan were undertaking an Anti Submarine sortie trying to detect enemy submarines. An enemy submarine fired and hit the Khukri with a salvo of three torpedoes. The Khukri sank in a matter of minutes. The crew were ordered to abandon ship , but not everyone was sucessful. 

Only sixty seven crew members of the Khukri could be picked up from the dark sea. Over 195 are missing, including 19 Officers.

The survivors reported that as they saw the ship going down, and the sea closing over the bridge, they saw Captain M.N Mullah seated in the captain's chair on the bridge. Keeping him company was Lt.Cmdr Joginder Krishen Suri..... [Read Full Story]

Dec 09: WESTERN SECTOR The Indian Army had already launched major thrusts into West Pakistan in the past couple of days.

Major gains have been made in the Shakargarh Bulge in the northern sector adjoining the international border west of Pathanakot. The offensive was launched by troops of our strike I Corps, under Lt Gen K K Singh, MVC. It is now known that the offensive started with the attack by 39 Division under Maj Gen B R Prabhu advancing to Shakargarh, The division is presently on the outskirts of the village of Harar Kalan. Also believed to be in this area are atleast two Infantry divisions.

In the southern sector of Rajasthan, Indian Army troops have started advancing into the Naya Chor Bulge. The advance by 11 Inf Div and 12 Inf Div has been slow but steady. The towns of Gadra, Khokrapar are already in our hands, and currently the Indian Advance is outside the Parbat Ali Feature, which is the ...[Read Full Story]

Dec 09 EASTERN SECTOR: The Indian Army today advanced closer to its objective of reaching Dacca, even as the Pakistani Army has begun offering resistance for the first time since the war began. Sources have said that the day saw some severe fighting in the Ashuganj and Kushtia towns, in the IV Corps and II Corps sector respectively. Both the corps formations are considered the best bet to

reach Dacca in this war.

4 Mtn Div under II Corps faced the first battle of the day when troops of 22 Rajput and tanks from 45 Cavalry entered Kushtia town. An ambush by the Pakistani troops inflicted some losses on our troops. Five of the PT-76 Tanks were either destroyed or disabled in the tow ....[Read Full Story]

Dec 09, Chamb: The pilot who was shot down yesterday, when Flt Lt A J Singh flew back his damaged MiG back was none other than Sqn Ldr Denzil Joseph Keelor, VrC, a war hero of 1965. He has been injured when he ejected from his MiG-21 yesterday in the Chamb area.

Keelor who was with a detachment of No.45 Squadron in Pathankot was on a mission to provide ground support to Indian Positions when a call came from a

forward air controller to attack some enemy armour. Immediately both him and his wingman Flt Lt Apramjeet Singh engaged the enemy targets with rockets and cannon fire.

The anti aircraft fire has been very intense and Keelor's aircraft had been hit badly. When the aircraft got out of control, Sqn Ldr Keelor ejected out of the aircraft, but the force of the ejection had crushed ...[Read Full Story]