A decade has passed since the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks but the scar it left on the entire nation still feels fresh.
The twelfth anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks will be observed on Thursday, with the city police organising an event to pay homage to the martyred security personnel, to be attended by only a limited number of people in view of the pandemic, an official said.
The ceremony will be held at the newly-built memorial at the police headquarters in South Mumbai. It will be attended by Governor, Ministers, Government officials, the family members of the martyred police and security personnel, the official said on Wednesday. Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari also mourned the loss of those who lost their lives during the attack. Social media too saw an outpouring of gratitude and homage to the victims and security personnel as people trended several hashtags related to the 26/11 terror attacks.
The ghastly attacks, Twenty-Six Eleven (26/11), as these attacks are often referred to which began on November 26 2008, lasted for four days, leading to the death of 166 people, including 18 security personnel and injuring over 300. Nine terrorists were killed by the security forces including the National Security Guard (NSG), the elite commando force of the nation. The attack witnessed 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists coming to Mumbai via sea route from Pakistan and carried out a series of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across the city.
The then 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. Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist to be captured alive, was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.
