I Bow To Statue Of 26/11 Hero Tukaram Omble”: Cop Who Caught Ajmal Kasab

New Delhi:

The extradition of Tahawwur Rana, brought back to India to face the law for his role in 26/11 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people, is a justice not for the martyrs, but every Indian, said Hemant Bhavdhankar, the Mumbai police inspector who was instrumental in the arrest of Ajmal Kasab, the only one of the 10 terrorists who unleashed havoc on the country’s financial capital for three days in November 2008. Click Here For Tahawwur Rana Extradition Live Updates

The retired officer had lost one of his colleagues, sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, in the encounter that led to the arrest. Asked if he has managed to get over the trauma of that day, he said he is still overcome with emotion when he passes that spot. 

“I bow to the statue of Tukaram Omble ji. We are here today because of him only. That is what I personally feel,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

On November 26, 2008. Mr Bhavdhankar and his team were manning a checkpost after the police received information that the terrorists had set off from Nariman Point. 

Abu Ismail and Ajmal Kasab were fleeing in a hijacked Skoda car towards Girgaon chowpatty. His team, he said, got a message from the control room and from there two teams of eight police officers reached the checkpost. 

While some stood behind the barricades, Mr Bhavdhankar and a few others stood at the road divider. 

The Skoda, he said, came at 12.30 and stopped 50