Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais paid floral tributes to the security personnel who gave their lives battling terrorists from Pakistan on Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. On the night of 26/11, 15 years ago, a group of heavily armed terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba wreaked havoc in the nation’s commercial capital, shooting unarmed civilians at several important public buildings.
The attacks left over 166 dead, including foreigners, and over 300 injured. While one of the terrorists, Ajmal Amir Qasab, was captured alive, the others were taken out in the final stages of the siege over four days.
The Governor and CM laid floral tributes at the martyrs’ memorial on the premises of the Police Commissioner’s Office in south Mumbai.
At the somber memorial service were Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as well as a number of state ministers, including Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Deepak Vasant Kesarkar. During the 26/11 attacks, up to 18 members of the elite National Security Guard (NSG) and state police gave their lives while performing their duties. The country and the world were rocked by the Lashkar men’s coordinated acts of terror.
The then Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan of the NSG, Mumbai’s Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte, Senior Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Tukaram Omble were among those killed in the attacks.