Page 277 - Leadership in the Indian Army

paratroopers, who were asked to resume advance during the night. Due to a
breakdown in signal communications, this order could not be passed on to
HQ 17 Infantry Division, which had ordered 50 Para Brigade to firm in at

Ponda and tasked 48 Brigade to capture Panjim. However, Lieutenant
General Chaudhury personally spoke to the Brigade Major of 50 Para
Brigade since Sagat was away visiting 2 Para at that time and gave him the
instructions. Incidentally, 50 Para Brigade was able to maintain contact with
Belgaum throughout the operation, thanks to a radio relay detachment that
Sagat had managed to get from Major General R.N. Batra, the SO-in-C, on
the ‘old boy’ net.

The advance of 2 Sikh Light Infantry was initially slow, even though it
was led by the squadron of 7 Cavalry and a troop of AMX tanks. Sagat felt
that they had a tendency to hug the ground, which slowed down their
progress. He had to push them hard to speed up their advance and reach the
Betim ferry on Panjim Creek by last light. By this time, 1 Para had reached
the outskirts of Panjim. With two battalions around it by the evening of 18

December, 50 Para Brigade was now poised to capture the town from the
east as well as the north. However, it was almost dark, and Sagat did not
want to enter the built-up area of Panjim by night. He ordered 1 Para and 2
Sikh Light Infantry to halt and establish harbours for the night.
On the morning of 19 December, using the Betim ferry, some troops of 2
Sikh Light Infantry crossed the Panjim Creek and arrived in Panjim at 0800
hrs. Shortly afterwards, 1 Para also reached Panjim. Except for some firing

from the customs house, there was no effective resistance and the city was
in Indian hands by 0900 hrs. By a remarkable coincidence, the COs of both
battalions bore the same name: Sucha Singh. However, Lieutenant Colonel
Sucha Singh of 1 Para had been awarded the VrC and MC. But it was
Lieutenant Colonel Sucha Singh of 2 Sikh Light Infantry who won the race
by an hour, and had the honour of accepting the surrender of the Portuguese

troops who had assembled in the officers’ mess. Major General Vassalo De
Silva, the Governor General and C-in-C, escaped to Marmagao and
surrendered later. The navy had already taken Anjidiv island the previous
day, as well as sunk the Portuguese frigate, the Albuquerque. At 1100 hrs,
Lieutenant General Chaudhury, accompanied by Air Vice Marshal Pinto,
arrived in a helicopter and hoisted the tricolour on the secretariat building.
Goa had been liberated in an operation that lasted a little over 24 hours.