Battle of Gazipur

Battle of Gazipur
Part of the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Date 4–5 December 1971 Location Gazipur Tea Estate Result Indian-Bangladeshi victory Territorial changes Gazipur ceded to Bangladesh
Belligerents
Bangladesh  India (formally Joined the war on 3 December 1971)	Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
Major Ziaur Rahman Shyam Kelkar †	Unknown
Units involved
5 Gorkha Rifles, parts of the 8 Mountain Division	22 Baluch Company and other unknown forces
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
11 killed 61 wounded	30 killed 40 wounded

The Battle of Gazipur was a military engagement on 4 and 5 December 1971, during the Bangladesh liberation war. It took place at the Gazipur Tea Estate near Kalaura, in the Sylhet District of what was then East Pakistan. The advancing Mitro Bahini (comprising Mukti Bahini and Indian Army) attacked the 22 Baluch Regiment of the Pakistan Army. This battle was a prelude to the Battle of Sylhet.^[1]

Preliminaries

By the evening of December 4, 1971, the 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) had fortified themselves at Kadamtal, a town close to the border opposite the Kalaura/Maulvi Bazar Sector of the Sylhet Division of East Pakistan. Small-scale attacks were planned to be employed to capture enemy territory. The 59 Mountain Brigade was to operate as a part of the 8 Mountain Division plan, possibly for thrust to Sylhet. The area had rolling hills with tea gardens dotting the area along the border. Further west, inside East Pakistan, low hills obscured most observations, and provided an excellent defensive and observational point into the Indian side of the border. The hills tapered off just East of Kalaura and the plains of the Sylhet division started from here. Kalaura was a communications center and rail head ten kilometers in depth, and was connected to Maulvi Bazar; along the Dharmanagar–Gazipur–Maulvi Bazar–Sylhet axis.

Objectives

The task given to the 8 Mountain Division at this stage was:

• The 59 Mountain Brigade was to capture the border posts along Dharmanagar–Gazipur-Kalaura and Dharmanagar-Jurithe axes
• The 81 Mountain Brigade was to capture the border posts along the Shamshernagar-Fenchuganj-Maulvi Bazar axis
• The rest of the division was to launch a multi-pronged attack against Sylhet

Pakistan's 313 Infantry Brigade, part of Pakistan's 14 Infantry Division, was located at Maulvi Bazar. Its 202 Infantry Brigade had moved to Sylhet, while its third brigade was covering Bhairab Bazar and the Ashuganj area further south. The 22 Baluch was defending the area enar Sagarnal, Gazipur, Kalaura, and Juri with additional companies consisting of reconnaissance forces and EPCAF troops. One of this battalion's companies was deployed along the Dharmanagar-Juri axis with couple of border posts. Additional forces at that time included a border outpost of platoon size plus and unknown number of regular troops and EPCAF troops at Sagarnal, and a company at Gazipur with a platoon of scouts and a platoon of EPCAF troops. Lastly, there was the battalion headquarters at Kalaura and small reserve force at Maulvi Bazar.

The Indian 59 Mountain Brigade plan detailed capture of the Sagarnal border outpost by 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) as a preliminary operation. The 9 Guards were to capture Juri, and the 6 Rajput was to capture Gazipur and advance up to Kalaura. The 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) would then act as reserve for the 6 Rajput's operation and be given additional orders as the battle progressed. It was planned that once Kalaura was secured, both brigades would once again have a single objective, to be determined later.

Attack

At Gazipur, the Dharmanagar–Kadamtal–Sagarnal–Gazipur–Kalaura road passed through the area occupied by the Gazipur Tea Factory manager's bungalow and was overlooked by hills to the Southeast. The rows of the tea plantation created a maze and these alleys were covered by automatic fire. To its North was high ground with good observation of the area, with bunkers located around it. On 3 December 1971 around 21:00 hours, 6 Rajput attacked Gazipur but was met with stiff resistance. Before dawn it was apparent that the attack had failed and it was too late to employ reserves.

At this stage the 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) were given orders to capture of Gazipur the next night; 4/5 December 1971. The 4 December was used for reconnaissance. With the attack launched the previous night, the Pakistanis were sensitive in the area, but had reorganized their defenses to prepare for an attack from any direction and were also supported by artillery guns. They also received reinforcements from Pakistan's 22 Baluch Company. In addition there was also a platoon-sized force suppoting them in reserve. The Pakistani defenses were based on a built up area and well prepared bunkers. The 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) planned to capture localities in phases, with Kela-Ka-Bagicha taken by Delta Company, the manager's bungalow by Alpha Company, and the factory by Bravo and Charlie Company. CO 2, Major Shayam Kelkar was made overall commander of the factory assault by Bravo and Charlie Company.

Delta Company was the first to reach its objective. By about 20:30 hours the advancing column reached the height immediately North of Kela-Ka-Bagicha and were attacked by Pakistani artillery and machine gun fire. Soon after this the company charged at about 20:45 hours. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued and casualties were taken on both sides. Delta Company succeeded in the fighting and captured Kela-ka-Bagicha. However, the company commander was injured during the attack. The next objective, the manager's bungalow, had been turned into a fortress with bunkers strewn around the structure. The firing was on fixed lines, covering gaps in the tea plantation rows and the approach from Kela-Ka-Bagicha. Because of a loss of radio contact Alpha Company's progress was not known and as such Bravo Company was tasked to capture the manager's bungalow. Alpha Company didn't know about Bravo Company being employed in its place from the planned direction. Luckily Alpha had taken a slight detour and angled their thrust on the rear side while Bravo targeted it from the Kela-Ka-Bagicha side. Casualties were suffered which included Commander Coy of Bravo Company, however Alpha and Bravo Companies succeeded in capturing the bungalow. However, during the assault, Major Shayam Kelkar was shot in the head and died while leading a charge.

The last and decisive phase of attack on the Tea Factory can best be narrated in the words of the Commanding Officer (Late Brigadier A B Harolikar, MVC):

At this stage I found myself along with my Reconnaissance Group between Manager's Bungalow and the Factory Gate. The Factory gate was hardly 100 metres in front of me. But an MMG had covered this gate effectively by fire. I noticed a Group of 5–6 jawans (Soldiers) in front of me and some jawans (Soldiers) behind me. We had all automatically taken cover in a longish (but narrow in width, like a drain) nullah, which seemed to be dry and shallow. But its shallow was adequate to protect us from flying splinters of bursting artillery shells and whizzing small arms fire... Only Charlie Company under its company commander had so far not been committed by me in an assault. But I was not aware of what casualties it may have suffered in the relentless artillery pounding and the MMG firing continuously...Any furth er delay in assaulting Factory area would tilt the balance in favour of the enemy... I knew that I may not survive the next moment, but I was certain that the Factory area would be ours; for hardly I had rushed forward a few yards when I found that the soldiers who had taken cover in front of me, were now rushing ahead of me, joined by others from behind and those emerging from the darkness. Before I knew what was happening, the small group in front of me had rushed through the gate- through the jaws of death. Who were they? The daredevils? To this day I do not know. It was dark and I could not see the faces. Having rushed inside the factory area we were all dispersed inside in different directions to face any unforeseen circumstances. Enemy soldiers manning the MMG's and other defences fled leaving some of their dead and wounded besides weapons, ammunition and equipment.

Aftermath

Finally, the Gazipur Tea Estate location had been captured and with this attack the command and control of 22 Baluch was split, the battalion headquarters slipped away from Kalaura, as the 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) advanced to Kalaura and occupied it on 6 December 1971. The Pakistanis had suffered heavy casualties; 15 dead Pakistani soldiers were found on the objective at Gazipur, and the Pakistanis carried away at least 15 of their dead and approximately 40 wounded. The Indians also paid a heavy price; one officer- CO 2 (Major SG Kelkar) and 10 other ranks killed, 4 officers (Jassi Rawat, Viru Rawat, Sahrawat and Y. Bharat), two JCOs (Including Delta Senior JCO Subedar Bal Bahadur Thapa) and 57 other ranks injured.

References