On 26 Nov 2008, fifty-eight people died in the shootings that continued unabated for over an hour at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. Over a hundred others were injured.

Those who shot indiscriminately at the innocent people with AK-47 rifles were two young men, Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan, inspired to carry out Jihad against Kaffirs.

In what can only be a testament to the joy the duo felt in the killing, Kasab and Khan then moved on to the streets killing pedestrians as well as policemen and decided to target Cama Hospital with the intent to kill patients. Kasab later confessed that they had planned to kill 5,000 people.

Driving a car, they were interrupted by Maharashtra ATS. Khan and Kasab killed eight more police personnel in the ensuing gunfight. They targeted Metro Cinema and opened fire on the crowd, and then they drove to the Vidhan Bhavan and continued shooting.

Abandoning the previous vehicle with a punctured tire, the terrorists stole a passenger vehicle and started moving towards Girgaum Chowpatty beach.

A roadblock had been set up after a constable who survived the gunfight called for help. Khan and Kasab tried to make a U-turn seeing the police barricade, but they had been spotted already, and the shooting began.

Ismail Khan died on the spot, while Ajmal Kasab was captured alive.

How did Tukaram Omble capture Kasab alive?

The Jihadists are trained to "kill to the last breath" remorselessly. They are instructed to not get captured and interrogated under any circumstances.

Since they fight without any rational goal (say ransom for hostages, or looting a bank, in which case negotiations can be carried out) but religious goal of “making Allah proud” (Kasab’s words), and have already decided to die fighting seeing it as a doorway to heaven after Jihad, it is next to impossible to capture a fidayeen alive in combat.

When police spotted the two AK-47 wielding terrorists in the car, shooting began. A bullet killed Khan, while Kasab lay down on the ground pretending to be dead. He was planning to begin shooting again as the policemen lowered their weapons and came closer to collect the bodies.

As an unarmed Omble approached cautiously, Kasab began shooting again. Instead of trying to take cover or running away, Omble charged ahead and held on to the barrel of Kasab’s rifle braving the bullets. This gave his colleagues just enough time to come close and capture Kasab alive as Omble shielded them from his bullets.

Reportedly, Omble had taken 40 bullets using himself as a shield, but, his body only gave up after the terrorist had been captured.

We salute all the security personnel who lost their lives in an ambush by the terrorists in 26/11 attacks, but the courage that a lathi-wielding Tukaram displayed by jumping before Kasab and making his capture possible gives new dimensions to the word ‘bravery’.

He was posthumously awarded Ashoka Chakra, the country's highest peacetime gallantry award.

Tukaram’s sacrifice is important for another reason. Without it, a deeper conspiracy could have never been unearthed.

The plot to blame ‘Hindu Terror’

In the interrogation that followed, Ajmal Kasab was brought face to face with Abu Jundal, another terrorist who was involved in the planning of the 26/11 attacks at the higher level. Jundal, a native of Beed in Maharashtra, was extradited to India from Saudi Arabia in 2012.

While Kasab was a fidayeen recruit who was trained and sent for the ground operation, Jundal was among the six main planners of the attacks, reportedly the highest-ranking Indian in the Lashkar-e-Taiba hierarchy.

Kasab was a Pakistani national, whose background verification was vehemently obstructed by the Pakistani government, from cordoning off his village, sending plainclothes officers to clear out his family home to threatening journalists and villagers.

But the evidence was clear on him killing people in the name of Jihad- as captured by security cameras, witnesses’ testimonies and by his own confession.

On the other hand, Abu Jundal belonged to a Maharashtra, and his journey to Jihad could be more easily investigated.

Also, Kasab was a dispensable instrument for the higher-ups in the LeT, one couldn’t expect to extract the details of the long-term or deeper plans of the Lashkar leadership - that Jundal would have known.

Kasab had named Jundal and Lakhvi as those who trained them to carry out the attacks. When Jundal and Kasab were brought face to face, they both identified each other. This was a crucial evidence that tied the higher leadership of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistani deep state with the 26/11 attacks.

Jundal also revealed the leadership’s plan to blame the attacks on Hindus - to boost the propaganda on the “Hindu Terror”.

It is noteworthy that despite the capture of Kasab, prominent politicians continued to hint at the hand of “Hindu terrorists” behind 26/11. However, Jundal’s confession revealed the real plot.

Jundal told the investigators that it was his idea to blame the attacks on the Hindus. Reportedly, the terror group planned to make it look like a retaliatory attack after the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit — accused of the 2008 Malegaon blasts.

The details show that serious planning was involved to pull off the deceit.

The terrorists were trained to speak in Hindi so that they could converse in the same instead of Urdu, giving the impression that they were Hindus (to the hostages, etc, they were not supposed to be captured for interrogation).

Jundal, having a master's degree in Hindi, was most suitable for this job.

The terrorists also wore saffron waistbands and were provided with the fake identity cards bearing Hindu names like “Sameer Chaudhary”.

Jundal then drafted a letter to be sent to media houses. It was written in Hindi, claiming the responsibility of the attack for ‘Deccan Mujahideen’ - a non-existent group.

It was hoped that after IDs with Hindu names and saffron bands would be found, the suspicion would go towards Hindus, and the Police would conclude that a Hindu group wrote the letter and tried to blame a make-believe Muslim group to mislead the investigation.

This plan was foiled by the capture of Ajmal Kasab.

The terror-masterminds had made preparations with the scenario in mind that only the dead bodies of the fidayeen would be recovered - with saffron waistbands and IDs - and witnesses to the case would tell the investigators that the terrorists spoke in Hindi and not Urdu.

In his testimony, Kasab corroborated the details given by Jundal about blaming Hindu groups for the attack.