Today is the 16th anniversary of the 26/11 attacks, a series of coordinated terror attacks at the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Leopold Cafe, Mumbai Chabad House, Nariman House, Cama Hospital, and Metro Cinema by ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.
At least 166 people, including 20 security force personnel and 26 foreigners, were killed and more than 300 injured in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. The ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists came to Mumbai via the sea route from Pakistan and carried out the attacks.
Tukaram Omble, the Mumbai Police Assistant Sub-Inspector who was killed during the 26/11 terror attacks in the city. Mr Omble, unarmed, was killed while he tried to capture terrorist Ajmal Kasab on the night of November 26, 2008.
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was leading a team of NSG commandos to flush out terrorists from the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai when he was fatally wounded. He was conferred the Ashok Chakra, the country's highest peacetime gallantry award, on 26 January 2009.
Anti Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare, a 1982 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was killed in an ambush near Cama Hospital, along with another IPS officer, Ashok Kamte, and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar during the November 26 terror attacks.
Mallika Jagad, the banquet manager at the Taj Palace Hotel during the 26/11 attacks, acted swiftly to protect guests. She and her team locked the doors, turned off the lights, and asked everyone to sit quietly.
The General Manager of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai during the 26/11 attacks, Karambir Kang, faced a personal tragedy when his wife and sons were trapped inside and lost their lives. Yet, his strength stood the test of this disaster, and he continued to work day and night to help the staff and the security forces to save everyone.
Thomas Varghese, a senior waiter at Taj's Wasabi restaurant, emerged as a real hero of the 26/11 attacks. After the bursts of gunfire, he asked the guests to crouch down and later sent them to safety.