Tag: 26/11 Attacks on Mumbai

In The News, My Take

In Homage: ASI Shri Tukaram Omble, Ashok Chakra (Posthumous).

A few days ago, on November 26, my mind compulsively went back to the dreadful events that engulfed Mumbai – India’s commercial capital- on that day 17 years ago! As you would know, starting November 26, 2008 the city was in the grip of panic amidst concerted planned attacks by a group of Lashkar -e- Taiba terrorists from Pakistan.

In my blog post of November 27, 2020, I had recalled the tragic chain of events that took place after the terrorists landed in Mumbai in the evening of November 26, 2008.

Another 5 years have gone by since then. We remember with sorrow 166 innocents of different nationalities, mostly Indian who were killed and more than 500 who were severely injured. These didn’t take place in one place. The battle with the terrorists went on till November 29. It was centred in different locations like the Taj Palace, The Oberoi, Chabad House, Cama and Albless Hospital, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus of the Indian railways, the road leading to Girgaum Chowpatty etc.

There were many heroes in those chilling days. Many were nameless: taxi drivers who rushed injured to hospitals; Mumbaikars who sheltered passers by during the shootings on the roads; the constabulary of the Mumbai Police who were facing an enemy the likes of which they had never face before- in terms of quality of equipment or the indoctrinated ferocity of their attacks; the staff of the Taj and Oberoi Hotels who put this lives at risk to save their guests; and of course, the Naval commandos (the MARCOS) and the National Security Guard NSG who were better equipped to fight the terrorists.

Some were named too: like Vishnu Zende , the train announcer at CST whose timely announcements led thousands of people in the vast station to safety;

In my opinion, by far the bravest deed came from 54 year old Asst Sub Inspector Tukaram Omble of the Mumbai Police. He had joined the Mumbai Police in 1991 after serving in the Signals Regiment of the Indian Army. It was Omble’s sheer bravery that enabled Ajmal Kasab – one of the terrorists- to be captured alive. Kasab was armed with the dreaded AK 47. Despite this, Omble physically hung on to Kasab though he took many bullets in his chest He clung on till his colleagues overpowered Kasab. Omble was awarded a richly deserved Ashok Chakra posthumously.

We came to know later that the terrorists ( all from Pakistan) came wearing “kalavas” traditionally worn by Hindus and had IDs with Hindu names to confuse the police. There was also a bizarre claim by a few that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was behind the terror attack. The book ” 26/11: RSS Ki Sazish” was launched by veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

Thanks to Omble’s bravery Kasab was captured alive. This ultimately led us to the truth behind the dastardly attacks.

Years have flown past, but we remember Omble with awe and respect. We can never forget what he singe-handedly did in the early hours of November 27, 2008.

Authors, Book Reviews

“Let Me Say It Now” by Rakesh Maria IPS

These days many senior officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS) are writing their memoirs. We, the public at large, get to hear from them their perspective of what happened and what did not, why they did something, and why they did not! In the old days, we had only newspaper reports to find out details about the case. We naturally were biased based on what we read.

Now things have changed so much. We are no longer ignorant of what is going on, thanks to 24x 7 high volume, ‘breaking news’ media coverage of the more sensational cases on national television. Channels vie with each other to spill the beans, often trying to solve the cases before the cops do so!

In such a context, it’s fascinating to read the story of one senior IPS officer who was involved in some of the most notorious cases in recent decades. Rakesh Maria wrote, “Let Me Say It Now” – published by Westland in 2020- to give his versions of these cases.

They included the infamous 1993 Bomb Blasts that rocked Mumbai and changed the dynamics of religion of that city (and probably the country itself ) for ever ; the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai again in 2008, this time by Pakistan trained terrorists sent to create mayhem and kill themselves while doing so; and more recently, the Sheena Bora murder case in which a highly placed socialite, Indrani Mukherjea was accused of a foul murder of a young lady, her own daughter!

Rakesh Maria IPS, served the Indian Police Service for 36 years in the Maharashtra cadre before he retired in 2017. He was awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1994 and later the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2007.

We read about how a young boy born and bred in suburban Bandra of Punjabi origin knew early in life that he wanted more than anything else to become a police officer. His father was a well- known figure in the Hindi film industry. In those days, Bollywood was less ” associated ” with crime and the underworld as it has been for the past few decades.

In his book, Maria comes across as a forthright, honest officer who had inherent skills to investigate crime. He could get the best out of his overworked, underpaid investigators who did the drudgery or the donkey work in finding clues and piercing the case together. He also steered clear from politics the involvement in which has proved to be the undoing of many a police officer. We know that politicians have long memories. They come back to power just as often as they are eased out of power. For a police officer to remain largely neutral and not take sides calls for a certain amount of moral courage.

The cases described in the book are too well-known to be detailed here. You must read the book to understand the nuances of each case, how difficult it was to get that vital break through, and how the pieces of the puzzle were put together by painstaking investigation.

Maria was not new to controversy. In the 26/11 case, Vinita Kamte widow of Ashok Kamte IPS made grave accusations against Maria . Later in the Sheena Bora case, again certain accusations were made about him. In this book, Maria defends his actions spiritedly and explains things from his perspective.

If you like books on crime, here’s one that you shouldn’t miss. Maria happened to be the man on the spot in some of the most publicized cases in recent memory. Read for yourself, how he conducted himself in highly trying circumstances.