Former NSG director general J K Dutt, who headed the commando force during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, died on Wednesday due to COVID-19 complications. According to a PTI report, the retired IPS officer was admitted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon on April 14. He passed away today at 3:30 pm after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. Dutt is survived by his wife, a son, who works in Noida, and a daughter, who is based in the US. He served as the DG of the National Security Guard (NSG) from August 2006 to February 2009, after which he retired from service.
He also worked in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and was once appointed as its officiating chief or director in 2005.Dutt also had a stint with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).The NSG condoled his death through a message on Twitter. "NSG condoles the sad and untimely demise of (our) former DG and remembers his distinguished service to the Nation. "He will always be remembered for his leadership during Op Black Tornado (Mumbai 2008). May Almighty rest his noble soul in eternal peace and give strength to his family to bear the loss," the NSG said. Dutt, along with about 200 'black cats' commandos, had boarded an IL-76 aircraft of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) to fly the first batch of the counter-terrorist strike force to Mumbai soon after the western metropolis reported multiple shootouts and public killings in the night of November 26, 2008. The elite force launched 'Operation Black Tornado' to kill the 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who had sneaked into Mumbai through sea route and laid an over 60-hour seige killing 166 people and injuring 300 more, including foreigners. The NSG commandos had operated at two luxury hotels, Taj and Oberoi Trident, and the Jewish Chabad House to flush out and finally neutralise eight LeT terrorists.