Mumbai: Policeman Tukaram Ombale was unarmed and Ajmal Kasab had an AK-47 gun when they grappled with each other on the night of 26 November 2008 in Mumbai.
Kasab shot Ombale, 50, several times but the assistant police sub-inspector held on to him and gave enough time to other policemen to capture the terrorist at Girgaum Chowpatty. There were 11 terrorists who attacked Mumbai that night--only Kasab was captured alive. Ombale died.
Now, Kasab must die, says Vaishali Ombale, the 23-year-old daughter of the policeman. "These honours do not delight us. I, my family and people of India want Kasab hanged. This is what matters to us," she said at her Mumbai home while looking at the Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest peacetime gallantry award given to her father.
An anti-terror court in Mumbai will announce its verdict on Kasab on Monday. Vaishali, who is studying Masters of Education, hoped the government would not delay Kasab's execution if he is held guilty.
"I am still to come to terms with the fact that my father is no more. He may not be with us but we feel his presence all the time. On that fateful night when I phoned him, he said he was fine and asked me not to worry," she said.
Around 12.45 am on the intervening night of November 26-27, Omable got an alert on his walkie-talkie that two terrorists had hijacked a Skoda car and were heading for Girgaum Chowpatty.
As the vehicle rammed into a road divider at Chowpatty, Ombale dashed towards Kasab after he got down from the car and gripped the barrel of his assault rifle with both hands. With his weapon pointed at Ombale, Kasab pulled the trigger pumping bullets into his stomach, but the policeman held on to the gun till his death.
Ombale took several bullets in the process but it enabled his colleagues to pounce on the terrorist and capture him alive to stand trial.
"The government has extended all possible help to the families of slain policemen but at the same time it should also ensure that the men in uniform are provided with hi-end equipment to deal with such terror scenarios in future," said Vaishali.
"I feel if my father had a modern weapon to fight against Kasab, he would have been alive now. I don't want other policemen to meet a similar fate," she said.
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