Mumbai: Tributes paid to martyrs on 14th anniv of 26/11 attacks

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday paid floral tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives while fighting terrorists who had attacked the metropolis on this day 14 years ago.

They paid tributes at the martyrs’ memorial in the premises of the Police Commissioner Office in south Mumbai, where Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, minister Deepak Kesarkar, Chief Secretary Manu Kumar Srivastava, state Director General of Police (DGP) Rajnish Seth, Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and other officials were present.

Family members of the policemen, who lost their lives during the November 2008 attacks, also paid tributes to the martyrs.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores.

The then Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai’s Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte and Senior Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar were among those killed in the attack.

The attack had begun on 26 November and lasted until 29 November. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Nariman House Jewish community centre were some of the places targeted by the terrorists.

Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.