Praveen, Enter the Room

On the night of the 26/11 terrorist attacks on Mumbai, Marine Commandos of the Indian Navy (MARCOS) entered the Taj, one of the places held captive by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. Excerpt taken from 26/11 Braveheart by Praveen Kumar Teotia

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There is a drill that we follow when a door has to be opened. Following the proper drill ensures that we are not caught in any trap, that the door is not compromised and it’s safe to enter. I was standing on the right side of the door. I slowly unlocked and pushed it in a way that I could slowly make out what was inside the room, in my arc of firing as they say. My buddy was my back-up and he had taken his position towards the left side of the door. Working in this combination, we entered the room.

Complete silence greeted us. I could hear my buddy’s breath behind me. Each step was now laden with danger. It was also very dark and a thin beam of light was coming from the other side, making some corners of the room visible. It took us some time to figure out that it was a dining hall. However, before proceeding further we needed a strategy.

There was information given to us earlier that there were at least four terrorists inside. Later on, the HLEC confirmed in its findings the presence of four terrorists in the Taj. Two terrorists had stealthily entered from the main lobby (of the Taj Towers) while the other two, who had fired at Leopold, entered by North Cote entrance (of the Heritage Taj) and joined up with their partners. There was no chance of a police response when terrorists had attacked Leopold Café at about 9:30 p.m. These two armed men had suddenly walked in and begun firing indiscriminately. After creating a bloodbath there, they hastened towards the Taj.