The Night of 26/11/2008 when the dreadful Terrorist attack on Mumbai took place, was reminded in the minds of locals, after Ajmal Kasab was hanged to death.
Terror came calling on India’s financial and entertainment capital on the night of Nov 26, 2008 and stayed for 60 hours as 10 Pakistani gunmen laid bloody siege to some of the city’s most loved landmarks, killing 166 people, injuring about 300 and leaving behind scars perhaps never to be healed.
As Mumbaikars readied for dinner, were settling down in front of the television or getting ready to party perhaps, the terrorists, that included Kasab, who was possibly their youngest member, sneaked into their city at about 9.30 p.m. Heavily armed, yet undetected, they nonchalantly got off dinghys at Colaba, walked to the fishing village and hailed taxis to begin their terror mission that ended only late afternoon on Nov 29.
The locations were chosen with meticulous attention to detail – carefully targeting both the elite and the common Mumbai citizen. They fanned out to various places, including the landmark Taj Mahal and Palace Hotel, the Oberoi Trident close to it, the popular Leopold Cafe, the Chabad House of Jewish religion and the always busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).
Most of these were in an area of four-five kilometres. In the hours that followed, people the world over watched horrified as India’s worst terror attack unfolded on their television screens for not one day or two, but three whole days.
The closure of sorts that came with the secret hanging of Kasab was in complete contrast to the public telecast of the three days of mayhem. Security personnel, including from the National Security Guard, the army and the navy, battled hard to overcome the gunmen.
Kasab, then only about 21 years old, was the only one to be caught alive. Caught on CCTV casually walking down CST with a backpack and an Ak-47 slung across his shoulder, he was nabbed on the first day itself by the intrepid assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, who grappled with the heavily armed terrorist who shot him to death.
There were scores of profiles in courage, many who laid down their lives trying to protect others even as they came under attack — police officers Vijay Salaskar and Hemant Karkare, CST announcer Vishnu Zende, Rabbi Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka… The list was long.
The Chabad House, a Jewish community centre in the heart of the city targeted for being a link to Israel, was under siege too. When the bloodbath there ended Friday afternoon, rescuers found nine bodies, including that of the young rabbi and his wife. Their toddler son had been rescued by the nanny.
The imprint of blood had been left in other places too, in the bullet pockmarked walls of Leopold Cafe, in the plush interiors of the Oberoi Trident, in the open platform of CST.
The bloodbath ended at the Taj Hotel on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov 29. Bang opposite Gateway of India, and one of the more enduring images of Mumbai, thick smoke had billowed out of its famous domed exteriors and loud sounds were heard as the terrorists used every arsenal in their possession to kill and maim.
CCTV Footage on the attack on Trident Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai
Finally, after the militants were curbed, the last of the survivors was brought out by security personnel, trembling and terrified but grateful of the many bravehearts inside who had helped them through the ordeal.
Amongst them was the hotel manager Karambir Singh Kang, who lost his wife and two young sons in the bloodbath. But in the highest traditions of professionalism, continued to work through the hours.
Just one of the many hundreds who suffered. Maybe, the hanging of Kasab provided them some closure, or in a sense some justice, as the wife and daughter of Inspector Vijay Salaskar, who was killed by Kasab and his colleague, told NDTV.
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At CST, where Kasab and his associate Abu Ismail massacred over 50 people, many commuters lit a lamp in front of a memorial to the victims Thursday and also distributed sweets. It was chaos as usual.
Adding to the hubbub were the tap-tap sound of shoeshine boys and the chatter of fisherfolk, who were running around with huge baskets of fish on their heads, ducking every other minute to avoid running into the hurrying officegoers.
Stall owners served breakfast, refreshments, tea, coffee and juices to their customers. As always, people were seen rushing to catch trains with paper cups in their hands.
It was a normal day for Jason D’Souza, a regular commuter at CST. He remembered vividly the night of Nov 26, 2008 when the terror attack took place.
“I had missed the fast train to Thane and was heading to the rest room when I heard some shots near the outstation train’s platform. Initially, I thought someone was bursting crackers. But when I went there, I saw two dead bodies and realised it is an attack,” said D’Souza.
“When I could not find a train, I ran towards the exit and got into a bus. I later got down and took a taxi to my home in Thane,” he added.
Another regular commuter Sandhya Pol said there was cheer in the air now that Kasab was dead.
Commuters did ponder over the secret manner in which the entire operation took place. Many felt the move was purely political and that there was no concept of justice involved in Kasab’s sudden execution.
“It came as a mix of many feelings. We are happy that Kasab is dead, but then he was just a puppet. Moreover, I feel his execution was just a major exercise by the Congress to win votes in the coming general elections,” said Ashima Narayanan, a commuter.
“But it is good to see life going back to normal at this historic station. Even the chaos here is good,” she added with a smile.
Kasab, the only Pakistani terrorist caught for the November 2008 terror siege in which over 166 people were killed, was hanged Wednesday in Pune’s Yerawada jail.
The hanging rekindled the chilling image of him – caught on CCTV cameras – walking down the station with an AK-47 in his hand and backpack casually slung across his shoulders.
The Central Railway from CST covers a distance of 140 km up to Karjat and Kasara in Raigadh (south) and Thane (north) districts and carries over four million passengers every day.