PTI file photo: Mumbai terrorist attack
Key points
- Hemant Karkare, the head of the Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad, was at his home in Dadar when he received a call about a terrorist attack at 9.45pm on November 26.
- Tukaram Omble, a former army soldier turned Mumbai policeman, and his fellow police officers were involved in a shootout with two terrorists in a hijacked car.
- Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan made the ultimate sacrifice while defending other NSG commandos and hotel guests.
The Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 26, 2008 left a scar on the city’s psyche, one with which it has struggled to come to terms. The 10 Pakistani terrorists who came from the sea attacked the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) train station, the Nariman House complex, Leopold Cafe, Taj Hotel and Tower, the Oberoi-Trident Hotel and the Hospital Cama, among other privileged places in the south. from Mumbai. When the chaos ended after three days, some 190 people died and hundreds more were injured.
But amid the pain, shock, anger and horror that gripped Mumbai and the rest of the country on that fateful week in November 12 years ago, there were also incredible stories of bravery, bravery, a sense of duty, men he faced bullets from terrorists as he tried to rescue others, from those who fought against terror. Some of these brave men paid the ultimate sacrifice.
As we remember 11/26, let’s also pause and remember some of these heroes.
Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar
Hemant Karkare, the head of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad, was at his home in Dadar when he received a call about a terrorist attack at 9.45pm on November 26. He immediately went to the CST station accompanied by his driver and bodyguards. There he learned that the terrorists were now near the Cama hospital. Karkare, along with police officers Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, went looking for two terrorists believed to be hiding behind a red car. Finally, they spotted one of the terrorists and managed to wound Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist who was captured alive, but in the subsequent exchange of fire with the second terrorist in a narrow lane near the Crime Division office, the three policemen were picky.
Tukaram omble
Tukaram Omble, a former army soldier turned Mumbai policeman, and his fellow police officers were involved in a shootout with two terrorists in a hijacked car, one of whom was killed. In an act of incredible daring, Omble held up the barrel of Kasab’s gun and took dozens of bullets at point-blank range. That gave the other policemen time to dominate Kasab. For his supreme sacrifice, Omble was honored with the Ashoka Chakra, the country’s highest award for gallantry in peacetime.
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan
A member of the elite special forces, Commander Sandeep Unnikrishnan made the ultimate sacrifice while defending other 51 Special Action Group NSG commandos and guests, and led the fight to terrorists inside the Taj Hotel. He died fighting a terrorist who was armed with grenades and an AK-47 after the officer charged alone into a hallway. The ‘Black Cat’ managed to wound a terrorist and lead all the jihadists to the restaurants below, from where there was no escape when the security forces approached. Major Unnikrishnan was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra.
Karambir singh kang
Not all heroes wear uniforms. Karambir Singh Kang was the general manager of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in 2008 when terror struck. Staying calm when the world around her was literally falling apart, she helped hundreds of guests and staff escape. Although Kang survived the attack, his wife and two children did not survive and were killed in a fire that engulfed the sixth floor.
