Floral tributes were paid on Friday to the martyrs who laid down their lives while fighting terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and state Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil paid their respects at the memorial at the police headquarters in south Mumbai.
President Ram Nath Kovind paid tributes to the martyrs and homage to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and said the nation will always be grateful to the security personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.
“My heartfelt tributes to the martyrs and homage to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The nation will always be grateful for the bravery and sacrifice of the security forces who laid down their lives in the line of duty,” Kovind tweeted.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also paid tributes and tweeted, “Heartfelt tributes to those who lost their lives in the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks and salute the courage of all the security personnel who bravely faced the terrorists in the cowardly attacks. The whole nation will remain proud of your bravery. A grateful nation will always be indebted to your sacrifice.”
The martyrs' memorial has been relocated from the original site at Police Gymkhana in Marine Drive to the police headquarters at Crawford Market because of the ongoing work on the Coastal Road project, an official said. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is recuperating in a Mumbai hospital after spine surgery, also remembered the 26/11 martyrs.
The 13th anniversary of the deadly terror attack was attended by a limited number of people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Family members of some of the martyred police personnel also paid tributes at the memorial.
During the ceremony, the dignitaries met family members of some martyrs. On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and opened fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others during the 60-hour siege in Mumbai.
The then Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, 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 attack. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 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 some of the places targeted by terrorists.
Nine terrorists were later killed by the security forces, including the NSG, the country's elite commando force. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.
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