Page 289 - Leadership in the Indian Army

Gonsalves (57 Mountain Division). The main task given to 4 Corps was to
destroy Pakistani forces east of rivers Meghna and Bulai.
Sagat decided to send in three divisional thrusts across the 250-kilometre

stretch of border on which his corps was deployed. In the north, 8 Mountain
Division was to advance along the line Dharmanagar–Kulaura–Maulvi
Bazar, and head for Sylhet; 57 Mountain Division was to advance along the
axis Akhaura–Ashuganj, and capture Daudakandi; and 23 Mountain
Division, in the south, was to capture Maynamati, Comilla and the major
river port of Chandpur. Subsidiary tasks were allotted to 61 Mountain
Brigade Group and Kilo Force, to assist the corps operations. There was a

rail bridge over the Meghna at Ashuganj, but the road alignment did not
follow the railway. Though not spelt out in the Corps Operation Orders,
Sagat was determined to ‘bounce’ the river if he got the opportunity, and
race for Dacca.
A number of preliminary operations had been carried out in November to
clear out Pakistani elements that could interfere with the advance once it

began. A Pakistani post at Dhalai was cleared by 61 Brigade after two
attempts and some casualties. The Belonia bulge, a tongue of Pakistani
territory which jutted about 10 kilometres into Tripura and was a constant
irritant, was cleared by 23 Mountain Division. And a Pakistani post at
Atgram, on the north-eastern approach to Sylhet, was eliminated by 59
Brigade after heavy fighting.
Operations began on the intervening night of 3 and 4 December 1971. In

the North, 81 Mountain Brigade secured Shamshernagar, and 59 Mountain
Brigade captured Ghazipur, followed by Kulaura on 6 December. On the
same day, 81 Brigade captured Munshi Bazar. In this sector, Maulvi Bazar
was held by a Pakistani brigade that was occupying a strongly defended
position on a prominent high-ground. From the very beginning, Sagat
tasked the Hunter aircraft, operating from Kumbhigram airfield, to

constantly bomb Maulvi Bazar with napalm. He appreciated that this would
prove very costly to the Pakistani brigade in terms of casualties as well as
morale. At this stage, Sagat was informed by intelligence sources that the
Pakistanis were pulling out of Sylhet in a bid to reinforce Ashuganj. Sagat
saw in this an opportunity to seize Sylhet. On 7 December, 4/5 Gorkha
Rifles were landed south-east of Sylhet by a special heli-borne operation.
This so unnerved the Pakistani Command that the Maulvi Bazar brigade

group was moved away to Sylhet, which already had a brigade group of