Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday paid floral tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives while fighting terrorists who had attacked the metropolis on this day 15 years ago. They paid tributes at the martyrs’ memorial in the premises of the Police Commissioner Office in south Mumbai, where senior police officials were also present.
Family members of the policemen, who lost their lives during the November 2008 attacks, also paid tributes to the martyrs.
It was on this day, now commonly referred to as 26/11, that 10 terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group had entered the city of Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008. Over the course of four days, they killed 166 people and injured 300.
The targets were carefully chosen after being surveyed for maximum impact, viz., the Taj and Oberoi Hotels, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Jewish centre at Nariman House, and the Leopold Cafe, since these places were frequented by Europeans, Indians and Jews.
Nine LeT terrorists were killed, while Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist from the attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, was arrested. In May 2010, Qasab was handed the death penalty, and two years later, hanged in a maximum security prison in Pune city.
President Droupadi Murmu on 26/11
President Droupadi Murmu also paid homage to the security personnel who died in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and urged the people to renew their pledge to battle terrorism in all forms everywhere.
“A grateful nation remembers with pain all the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. We stand with their families and loved ones in honouring the memory of the brave souls.
“I pay homage to the valiant security personnel who laid down their lives for the motherland. Recalling their supreme sacrifice, let us renew our pledge to battle terrorism in all forms everywhere,” Murmu said in a post on X.