BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

These few pages, chronicle the heroism of Railwaymen & those associated with Railway, who went Beyond the Call of Duty, on the fateful night of 26 November’2008, th when CSMT was stuck by the tyranny of indiscriminately shooting terrorists, killing innocent rail passengers, bystanders & anyone who was in sight…….. Amongst the surprise, the shock & the terror, these Railwaymen, stood towering above, to selflessly save life, in complete disregard to the danger to their own lives….. These men, clearly, went, BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY.

 Inspector Sandeep Khiratkar   H. Constable Jillu Yadav   Sub. Inspector Kiran Bhonsle 

 The terrorists, who attacked CST, were thwarted by the sheer bravery & gut by a handful of poorly equipped RPF personnel. Sub. Inspector Kiran Bhonsle, just had a pistol, but still charged towards Platform 1 to take-on the terrorists despite being told of heavy firing !! Head Constable Jillu Yadav, did not even have a weapon on him. He snatched a 0.303 rifle from another policeman & took on the AK-47 wielding terrorists!! Inspector Sandeep Khiratkar also fired on the two terrorists, forcing them to retreat. SI. K. Suryavanshi, ASI. Ramjivan Napit & Const. Feroz Khan were other RPF heroes who, in complete disregard to their personal safety rose to the Call of Duty….. None of these RPF personnel, who took on the terrorists, were equipped with, even a bullet proof vest, as protection from the barrage of bullets from terrorists mercilessly killing anyone in sight…… 

Vishnu Dattaram Zende Bablu Kumar Deepak

Bablu Kumar Deepak was working as announcer at CST station (Main Line), on the night of the 26/11 terror attack. Indrayani Express from Pune, had just come, when all hell broke loose. Bablu heard the blast of a grenade and firing from an automatic gun for more than three minutes. There was smoke everywhere and he could hear the screams of the dying and injured. From his elevated glass front booth, what he saw made him shiver with fear. Despite seeing death all around, the thought of the unsuspecting passengers, falling prey, stuck him, & from his booth he repeatedly announced that all passengers should exit the station from the other end as there was a gunfight on the main platform. Bablu, also, dutifully called the central control room & also informed Vishnu Zende, who was the announcer for Suburban side of CST about the attacks & the firing. Vishnu Dattaram Zende, too, already alarmed by the explosion & pandemonium, kept his calm & seeing that a local had just arrived, repeatedly announced that all passengers should exit from the other side exit of CST. The terrorists, irked by the persistent announcements, even fired on the elevated glass cubicle, shattering the glass. His repeated requests, both in Hindi & Marathi, his tone of urgency, resulted in the suburban platforms getting deserted & saving the lives of hundreds of innocent passengers. The two Railwaymen, in complete disregard to their personal safety, in the face of death, saved hundreds of lives, by going well beyond their Call of Duty….

The announcement booth of V. Zende & his glass window view. His courage & devotion, that night saved hundreds of lives of Suburban passengers The Glass façade of the Main-line side announcement booth of Bablu Deepak, from where he was witness to the mayhem & still showed exemplary courage & presence of mind, that night, saving hundreds of lives.

An extract of the Traffic controller diary of 26/11/2008, showing the record of Babloo K. Deepak’s communication to control about the CST mayhem. The shattered glass of Babloo’s announcement booth, bearing the mark of a fired bullet !!

“Captain” R. TAMIL SELVAN, now a MLA, was, on 26/11/2008, at CST’s corridor between platforms 14-15, working as a Parcel Contractor. In the wake of firing & mayhem, “Captain’s” team (8 pvt staff & 3 Rly parcel staff), using parcel hand carts, rushed 40 bleeding & Injured passengers to the nearby St.George’s Hospital. 36 of these injured passengers, survived & owe their lives to the “Captain”, who went, BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY….

Md. Taufiq Sheikh Chottu Chaiwala, as he is commonly known, is a tea vendor at CST. That night too, he had gone to CST to collect money. He heard explosions & alerted passengers queued up at the ticket booking office. Since more gunfire erupted, he hid inside the booking office. Through the ticket office, window, he saw Kasab & because of the baggy trouser & assault rifle, mistook him as a commondo. He called-out & asked for help from Kasab!! The terrorist, then fired directly at the ticket window & chottu saved himself by ducking under the counter. Chottu stayed back that night, carrying the wounded to hospital on handcarts.

Sebastian D’souza, after finishing work at Mumbai Mirror, was leaving for home, when he was informed of the TAJ attacks. While setting out for TAJ, he heard explosions & gunfire in CST, just opposite to the Times of India bldg., where he worked. He shot more than 90 pictures, with bullets flying around him. To protect himself, he hid in an empty train rake, stabled on platform & between jumping from one compartment to the next kept on clicking pictures. His pictures were instrumental in nailing Ajmal Kasab, in the Supreme Court of India, which also recognised his efforts in nailing the convicts. He was also recognised as the first Indian news photographer to win the World Press Photo Award, in 2009, for the adjoining photo, of Md. Ajmal Amir alias Kasab at CST, on 26/11/2008. The award winning photo. First time ever, in the world, were terrorists photographed, in action.

Photo taken, from inside the stabled rake, of the two terrorists at CST.



The crater in front of Plat 13, following the Grenade burst



The memorial at CST as mark of respect to the 46 Passengers & 6 Railwaymen, who lost their lives that day.





6 Railwaymen & 46 passengers, lost their lives, that day in the dastardly attack….

Sh. S.K. Sharma, Chief Ticket Inspector was one amongst the six Rly men, who lost their lives. The family of Sh. Sharma, used the money received as compensation, to form a charitable trust (Shaheed Sushil Kr. Sharma Foundation) that undertakes education & empowerment of Adivasi Girls. It is this Spirit of Railwaymen & their families, that deserves a Salute……. Salutations are also due to several other Railway men or people working with the railways, who have not been mentioned in these few pages. (The only reason for doing this, is a lack of information in the public domain about these figures). Nevertheless, Salutations to all of them !!

Compiled based on information & pictures available in the public domain. A humble attempt to chronicle those who went BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY Heritage Cell, PCME Office, Central Railway. With Continued Support, Guidance & Encouragement of Sh. D.K. Sharma General Manager, Central Railway