On CCTV we saw 3 terrorists hitting 5 hostages & trying to get them down. I called the control room. CP Sir said, ‘The naval commandos are coming in a few minutes; keep them pinned down.’ On behalf of our team, I said, ‘We will not allow them to come down, though we die.’

We began firing; they threw grenades & fired back at 3 AM they set the dome on fire. But we kept them occupied & 600 people were rescued from inside Taj.

By then, they knew we were in the CCTV room. So we formed a chain & made our way out, but they saw us & sprayed us with bullets. Our team got split up. Amit was shot thrice; Rahul Shinde was martyred, Rajvardhan & I made it to Crystal Hall.

We had no cell phones, no walkies. We waited there until the NSG arrived, gave them intel & then they carried out their operation. Honestly, I was sure I wouldn’t make it out alive. Even my family thought I was dead; they were preparing for my funeral but I did my duty & went home.”

 #ChabbisGyara

(4/9) [10:00 PM,Cama Hospital]

“That night, I called Salaskar Saheb & told him about the situation at CST. I’ve worked with Salaskar Saheb since 1996. He was a brother to me; I accompanied him on every operation. 26/11 was no different after I reported to him, he called me to Colaba station. On my way, I picked up a sten gun; I knew something was horribly wrong.

When I saw Salaskar Saheb, he was on call with Maria Sir. We were called to the control room. On our way there, we crossed a nakabandi they told Saheb that the 2 terrorists from CST had gone to Cama. We rerouted.

At Cama, I saw about 50 cops–ATS team, crime branch & Karkare Sir. We could hear firing & grenade bombs from inside Cama. Soon, Kamte Sir joined us–he was motivating us to fight them.

Just then, an officer drenched in blood staggered out of the back gate; he told us that 2 constables were dead & Mr. Sadanand Date was injured. Just as we were helping him into a car, bullets poured down on us from above.

At that point Kamte Sir picked up his AK-47 & fired above in retaliation. After that, there was silence. Kamte Sir made a plan to go to the main gate, call for support & storm the building.
Kamte Sir, Karkare Sir & Salaskar Saheb sat in the Qualis I was getting in the back when Salaskar Saheb said to me, ‘Bhau wait, we’ll see & come back.’ But I’d never let him go on an operation alone. So along with 2 more operators & the driver, the 7 of us set out; I was at the very back.

Just then, we got new information in the Rang Bhavan gully 2 terrorists were spotted. Without informing the control room, we went there.

In the lane, Salaskar Saheb dimmed the headlights, but the top light was on Kasab & Ismail spotted our car from the top of Cama, came down & hid at the corner. As our car drove past slowly, they opened fire & threw a grenade.

Kamte Sir was just picking up his AK-47, when he was shot in the head. Yogesh Patil fell on me; I shot 3 rounds Kasab got injured. They continued firing 3 bullets hit me; my elbow was broken, my gun dropped to the floor.

I was ready to die I started remembering my family. I took God’s name & waited for death, but my purpose hadn’t been served yet.” 

#ChabbisGyara

(5/9) [11:50 PM, Metro Cinema]

“They stopped firing and approached the car. Kasab threw Kamte Sir on the floor. He opened the back door and in a heavy northern accent said, ‘Acha jacket tha,’ as he removed Karkare Sir’s body from the car. When they reached Salaskar Saheb on the steering, I thought he’d do something, that he was pretending to be dead but they threw his lifeless body on the floor. In that moment, the pain of the bullets was nothing my older brother, my mentor, my friend… Salaskar Saheb was no more.

Still, I was fully conscious, my eyes were open and through the gap in the head rest, I could see them. If my arm wasn’t broken, I had a clean shot; I could have killed them both.

Yogesh Patil was on me; he was still alive. But just then, his phone rang; his father was calling to check if he was okay. When Kasab heard the phone ring he randomly fired bullets towards the back seat. Again, I dodged death by a few millimeters; one bullet in my chest, and I wouldn’t have been here today.

As they drove past Metro Cinema and fired at the media and cops, the news spread that the terrorists were in a police vehicle. But then at Vidhan Bhavan, the car broke down the right tyre was punctured. So they got out of the car and stopped a Skoda. I saw them heading towards marine drive. That’s when I called the control room and gave them all the information.

After, a hoard of police officers found me in the Qualis all their guns were pointed at me. I was in plain clothes; they had intel that terrorists are in a police car they could have shot me at any point. But then luckily the present Commissioner of Police, Mr. Parambir Singh’s operator recognised me. But it was like every second, death knocked on my door and left before I could answer.

Finally, I was hospitalised for a day my family had no idea where I was. I went into surgery, not knowing that in the days to come, I’d meet Ajmal Kasab once again.”

 #ChabbisGyara

(6/9) [12:20 AM, Chowpatty]

“News of the attacks all over the city was pouring in, when my senior inspector called & asked me to set up a nakabandi in my area Chowpatty. When I arrived there with my men, Tukaram Omble & a few other officers were already present. In total we were 16 men; 2 of us had pistols the rest all had lathis.

Around 12:20 AM, we got the news that the two terrorists from Cama hospital were making their way to Chowpatty in a Skoda. We decided to double barricade & hold our position, come what may.

At 12:30 AM, a Skoda approached us & stopped 50 metres away from our nakabandi. We shouted at them to get out of the car with their hands up. They put off the headlights, started the wipers & then tried to make a U-turn. They couldn’t & rammed into the divider they were now just 2 feet away from us. That’s when Ismail picked up his gun & fired 2 rounds. I fired 3 shots at him, another officer fired 1. Ismail was gravely injured; he was on the driver’s seat.

That’s when Kasab opened the left door by then Tukaram Omble & his team were already making their way towards the car; they only had lathis.

It happened simultaneously Omble Sir reached the car, Kasab lifted his gun, Omble Sir caught the barrel of the rifle Kasab fired.

Omble Sir took 6-7 bullets in his chest, but didn’t let the rifle go; he fell to the floor with Kasab’s AK-47 in hand.

When I saw the fight Kasab put up even as we were subduing him with lathis, I realised how well trained he was he could escape from anywhere; were that gun still in his hand he would’ve shot us all & continued his slaughter. We had 2 pistols & lathis–he had an AK-47.

So I don’t think I should speak about anything more except Tukaram Omble Sir & the debt that can never be repaid. I knew him for years he was a soft spoken man; the one who guided junior constables & trained them. He was always smiling, helping everyone. But on the day that mattered the most, he was the fiercest; the most fearless of us all. With a lathi, he took on a terrorist with an AK-47; he gave up his life, but didn’t let Kasab’s gun go. That’s the man he was Tukaram Omble.

Remember him today; remember him everyday.” 

#ChabbisGyara

 (7/9) [Oberoi]

“As I was on my way home, Mahale Saheb called me and asked me to rush to Colaba; he said it was a gang war. Within minutes, he called and said there’s firing at CST to rush there instead. Then another call for Oberoi. That’s how it was that night every area of South Mumbai seemed to be under attack. Finally, I was given the duty to go to GT Hospital and take the statements of those injured in the attack so we could gather intel.

But as I waited to take down statements– only dead bodies were coming in. First 10, then 20, then 30 I couldn’t understand what was going on. And then I saw the sight that moved the ground beneath my feet Salaskar Saheb’s body was brought to the hospital. At that point, I didn’t know where to go, what to do… it was the worst night of my life.

But we had one terrorist in our custody; there was no time to waste. We started collecting evidence from being on duty on 26th November, I next went home only on 5th December.

When I heard the conversations between the terrorists and their handlers, I couldn’t believe my ears. Fahadullah, the terrorist at Oberoi shot his hostages, whilst his handlers were on call.
The handlers kept repeating one thing– ‘Save the last bullet for yourself; koi bhi halaat mein arrest nahi hona hain.’ When I saw the CCTV footage, I had tears in my eyes. A lady staff member at Oberoi with an injured hand ran into Tiffin to tell her guests to hide; a family with children hid under the table, but there was so much hatred in these terrorists that they shot them under the tables. Later we found hundreds of bullet marks even on the floor.

For 90 days, we worked non-stop on building up a charge sheet against Kasab through our investigative report that ran into thousands of pages. Kasab was in my unit for 45 days of questioning. And every one of those 45 days, he asked for just one thing– ‘Mujhe zeher dedo, mujhe goli maar do… mein marna chahta hoon.’

 #ChabbisGyara

(8/9) [9:45 PM, Nariman House]

“I was outside Taj, when my informant called me & said, ‘Saheb, Colaba pe blast hua hain.’ I’ve been in the Colaba area my whole life–the people there knew me, so I immediately went to Nariman House.

It was chaotic. A paan shop was destroyed, 1 person was dead & they’d thrown a grenade at Nariman House’s entrance. I called Maria Saheb–‘I’m on the spot, I need manpower!’ The building lights were gone & they were firing from the windows. So with my 3 men, I began clearing the surrounding buildings.

Within 15 mins, 350-400 people were evacuated without a single injury. My next agenda was to pin the terrorists down if they got out of Nariman House, they’d create more havoc. By then, Maria Saheb had sent more men. I told them–‘This is an attack on our nation; our motherland, we have to fight & protect it.’

We were 11 officers we placed ourselves on different floors of the surrounding buildings & fired we wanted to send the message that we’d surrounded them. The terrorists moved their position between the 3rd & 5th floors. We launched tear gas shells on them.

Maria Saheb called me & said, ‘Bagwan hilna nahi’; I said, ‘I’m here, I’m not moving, nothing will happen.’ By 5:30 AM more forces arrived we had 125 men. We set up gonis on every road leading up to Nariman House to make sure there was no escape. They tried coming down 2-3 times, but we’d fire & they’d go back up

We then got intel that they informed their handlers that they were surrounded. The handlers said ‘Shaheed hone ka waqt aa gaya.’

At dawn, I wanted to storm the building. I asked Maria Saheb for a go ahead, but by then we knew Salaskar Sir, Karkare Sir & Kamte Sir were no more. He said, ‘Bagwan I can’t risk it, just hold; NSG will help you.’
So that’s what we did. Until the NSG took possession on the 28th, for 1.5 days we held our position.

Finally, after the NSG operation was complete & when we saw those bastard’s bodies… I felt anger. Their bodies were charred, riddled with bullets but I didn’t think it was enough. The way they’d kill their hostages was so gruesome; what ‘jannat’ would take them? The deepest of hell is where they deserved to go.” 

#ChabbisGyara

(9/9) [Present Day]

A month after the attacks I appeared as the prime witness against Ajmal Kasab; it was on my statement that he was hung years later. Still, when I met him in jail, I couldn’t control myself I started beating him; at least 10 cops had to pull me off him I would have killed him with my bare hands. But God kept both of us alive so that I could testify against him and the roots of his terror were revealed to the world.

Looking back, years later I still remember every last detail. I’ve won awards, the President has felicitated me and I’m back in service fighting crime, but I can’t get over the loss of Salaskar Saheb my mind goes back to how things could’ve been different; of how I could’ve saved him… but I know that we were all soldiers that night and our first and only priority is the country.

So I’m on duty till today to continue to serve; my every breath is to ensure that the 15 policemen, 2 NSG commandos and 149 civilians didn’t lose their lives in vain.” 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

 #ChabbisGyara