It has been eleven years since the deadly attack of November 26, took the commercial state of India – Mumbai to its knees – India woke up to the bloodiest of its fidayeen on the morning of 27.11.2008. While the city still shudders at the thought of three day terror siege yet it has evolved out as a stronger force to combat the terror activities and emerged even stronger against its vulnerabilities.
It was on the night of 26.11.2008 that a group of 10 terrorists from Karachi, Pakistan associated with ‘Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba’ entered Mumbai via a fishing boat. They hijacked a fishing trawler killing four crew members and threw their bodies overboard, while the captain’s throat was slit. They were docked at the Mumbai waterfront near the Gateway of India monument from where they parted their ways into three groups and opened firing at different places using automatic weapons and grenades. These men stormed buildings killing 166 people and leaving more than 300 people injured. The horrendous attack targeted causalities from India as well as outside the country.
Five prominent places that were targeted in the financial city during 2008 are:
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station:
November 26, 2008 – A 90-minute attack that took approximately 58 lives. While leaving the train station, the armed men open fire into crowd gathered around a police barricade where ten additional people are killed.
Cafe Leopold:
November 26, 2008 – The attack lasts for 10-15 minutes where 10 people are killed.
Cama and Albless Hospital:
November 26, 2008 – The gutless gunmen open a surprise attack on a group of police officials killing six of them including ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.
Nariman House:
November 26-28, 2008- The residential area and business hub saw the death of seven people in a three-day siege at a Jewish Chabad Lubavitch Outreach center.
Oberoi-Trident Hotel:
November 26-28, 2008 – Around 30 people are killed in a three-day siege.
Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel:
November 26-29, 2008 – Approximately 31 people are killed in the four-day siege.
The cowardly gunmen planted bombs in taxis killing five men. Then they set the bomb under the central dome of Taj Palace blazing a massive fire that later raged through top floors of the hotel. While nine terrorists were killed by the armed forces during the four day counter act, Ajmal Kasab – only accused captured live was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune in 2012. He was convicted of murder, conspiracy and waging a war on India later in 2010.
Calculating the aftermath of the deadly terror attack, US citizen David Coleman Headley (aka Daood Gilani) is arrested in Chicago as he is accused of scouting out locations to target in the Mumbai attack. Another foreigner, a Canadian citizen Tahawwur Hussain Rana is arrested in Chicago since he is accused of facilitating the 2008 attacks by helping Headley (Daood) obtain a fake visa to travel to Pakistan. Seven men are charged in Pakistan in connection with the attacks, including the alleged mastermind, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. In 2010, Daood pleads guilty, consequence of which leads him to 35 years in prison, whereas, Rana is found not guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to the attackers. The Islamabad High Court in Pakistan orders the release of Lakhvi in 2015, calling his detention illegal. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the leader of a group associated with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, is placed under house arrest in Pakistan in 2017 for his suspected role in the Mumbai attacks but the Lahore High Court frees Saeed from house arrest citing a lack of evidence.
The heroic act of Tukaram Omble made way for the sun to rise in the terror ridden state which otherwise had lost all the hopes that the fateful doom would ever get over. Several officials including Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble, Mumbai Anti Terrorist Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, Havaldar Gajendra Singh and Inspector Vijay Salaskar, were killed along with other unsung heroes.
