It was a horrifying experience on Nov 26, the night of terror. My residence is a bungalow type row house with a compound wall, on the Rangbhawan lane, which connects St.Xaviers College and the the Passport Office. The road further goes to Cama Hospital and Times of India Building on the backside of CST. I work in Mahape, and usually i arrive at CST for home around 9.45pm. The 5th ODI between India-England was on and i decided to get back home early to catch the action on TV. I reached home at around 8.50 pm , 55 minutes clear of action !
The match must have barely got over, when we heard some cracking sounds and later a big booming sound. We thought it must be crackers. My Aunt from Bhopal called, and asked us to turn on the TV. There were stories of Gang war outside CST and Leopold Cafe being flashed. I asked her to relax, and that it was nothing major, assuming that if its a gang war, it will be over and the police will take care of it. Friends from everywhere started calling. I must have attended more than 50 calls.
The coverage inside wasnt good, so i walked out of the home and in my compound. While talking on the phone, i strayed out of the compound and reached the exact place(Corporation Bank ATM, alongside my compund wall) which would witness a bloodbath minutes later. My Father called me inside, as he saw on TV what was happening. Minutes later we heard rounds being fired indiscriminately and several booming sounds of grenades. We realized, it was happening not very far (It was happening at Cama and GT hospital; our residence is in between the two hospitals). The booming sounds increased and the firing continued. We didnt know from where it was coming. It was just so close and we saw on the TV, that it was happening in the Cama and the GT. All the while we were hearing rounds being fired and the deafening sound of the explosives that were being hurled in all directions.
We feared for the worst: what if one of the grenades lands in our compound near my room window? The Cama hospital operation was happening barely 100 meters from my home and the GT hospital was 50 meters away. Too close for comfort! We shut the doors and windows except the master bedroom window and the kitchen window, so that we coukd catch a glimpse when needed (Curiosity is in the blood of true Indians, didnt realize that it could prove fatal).
I was trying to see what was happening from the master bedrooom's window. I heard gunshots (Later i realized, the terrorists had asked for water from one small shack 50 meters away from my place, and they shot em!). Unaware of what was happening, suddenly from the window, I saw a young boy running from the Passport office towards Rangbhawan. i could only see his upper body as the compound wall obstructed me. I thought he must be a victim trying to hide, but later it turned out he was one of them. We heard somebody disturb the bushes on the opposite side of my compund wall. They were hiding in the bushes. My neighbour, in the adjacent house, told me they had come to ask for water on his door. He saw some guns from the window and rushed inside to call the police.
I saw a police Qualis approach the road along my compund wall at full throttle. As it slowed down just outside my compound, the terrosists, from their hiding in bushes, brush-fired at the vehicle and surprised the cops. I heard 18 rounds outside my house. I ducked and I could hear some bullets hitting the shutter of the Corporation Bank. We were ducking inside the house thinking the cops had shot the terroists. It was the other way round !! Our star cops, ATS chief Karkare, Salaskar and Kamte were no more. The terrorists unloaded the dead bodies, siezed the van and sped away towards St. Xaviers college, further towards Vidhan bhawan. About 45 minutes later i saw, from the kitchen window, 3 Police Vans arriving with around 20 cops to claim the bodies of our brave cops.
The Karkare-Salskar-Kamte incident took place barely 25 feet from my kitchen window. We have a row house so its on the ground floor and i almost saw, heard and felt the entire thing. We had our lights and cell phones switched off for the entire night. In the morning there was the home minister and Police outside the gate of my compound wall, to inspect the site where the incident took place. Phew what a night it was. Me and my family were in the middle of all this. My family is still coming to terms with the incident.
Being a witness to these incidents, i realized that the actual risk might be greater than originally percieved. I feel, its my responsibilty to help those affected by these chain of incidents, as it could have easily been me and my family. Had the terrorists chosen to jump over my compound gate to hide, which would have been a better hiding place, anything could have happened.
Feel free to share your story.
Regards,
Kamlesh
