Maha CM Shinde, Guv pay tributes to martyrs on 26/11 attacks' anniversary

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On the 15th anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday paid floral tributes to the security personnel, who laid down their lives fighting terrorists from across the border in Pakistan.

A group of heavily-armed terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba unleashed mayhem in the country's commercial capital on the night of 26/11, 15 years ago, spraying bullets on unarmed civilians at multiple key public installations in the city.

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.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and several state ministers, including Deepak Vasant Kesarkar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, were also present at the sombre commemoration event.

As many as 18 security personnel, from the state police and the elite National Security Guard (NSG), laid down their lives on the line of duty in the 26/11 attacks.

The coordinated terror attacks by the Lashkar men sent shockwaves across the country and the world.

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.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital and the Nariman House Jewish Community Centre, now renamed Nariman Light House, were among the landmarks targeted by the terrorists during the 26/11 attacks.

Qasab was captured and arrested from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, commonly referred to as the CST.

In May 2010, Qasab was sentenced to death and was hanged in a maximum security prison in Pune city two years later.

While several years have rolled since the dastardly terror attacks, the emotional scars from the mayhem over four days continue to linger on in public memory.