New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Eleven years ago on this day, India witnessed a horrific terrorist attack and one of the worst to have ever occurred in the country that continued for a period of four days and left over a hundred people dead and several hundred gravely wounded. During this time, the nation saw some extraordinary acts of bravery and selflessness by security forces and civilian members of the society, who risked with their own lives to save others. Today, we are sharing one of them.
It was about 10 pm on November 26, 2008, and there was just an hour left for Vishnu Zende—a railway announcer—to end his shift when he heard a loud bang on the mainline of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station in Mumbai. It immediately rang alarm bells in his head. Suspecting it to be a blast, he promptly informed the RPF as well as the GRP. Within minutes, he realised that it was actually a terrorist attack!
“I immediately started making announcements to guide people away from the blast site and contacted the railway police so they could take charge of the situation,” Zende was quoted as saying by thebetterIndia.com
Following the announcement, he saw terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and Abu Dera Ismael Khan, walking across the platform, armed with rifles and an “evil laugh”. “I saw the men walking with guns … to the suburban railway section and firing indiscriminately. They were throwing hand-grenades,” Zende told the Hindustan Times.
Even though the announcer realised that his life was in danger, he decided to stay and make full use of the resources by making announcements on all the platforms.
While the terrorists were showering bullets on innocent people, a suburban train arrived at the station. Hundreds of people would have disembarked at the terminus and would have been killed by the two terrorists. “A rage was boiling inside Zende as he saw the terrorists firing at the passengers, so he continued to make announcements to save as many lives as possible. While we could see the terrorists, thankfully, since we were sitting on the first floor, they could not see us.”
For the next half-hour, he continued to make announcements in Hindi and Marathi, asking passengers to opt for the rear gate instead of the mainline.
“Following his instructions, the passengers rushed out,” he told HT.
It wasn’t as though Zende and his colleagues were completely safe in their cabin. The terrorists were calling out people who were hiding. “While firing indiscriminately, Kasab also waved his hand at us, signalling that we (railway staff) come out of the control room,” Zende added.
However, it did not stop him from making the announcements until he saw that the platform was vacant. “When Kasab found nobody to kill at the platform, he also fired at a dog,” he recalled.
A little later, when the glass wall of his cabin was shattered, Zende took refuge under his desk. The terrorists aimed at the cabin and the bullet missed the announcer by inches. By then, thankfully the station was empty and he had done his job.
“With the sound of bullets only getting louder, I knew my time had come. We were all terrified, but we tried to keep calm and not make things worse. I told my family I was safe for now, but I honestly did not know what was going to happen,” told the Indian Express.
Even though 52 people were killed at the railway station on the night of 26/11, Zende’s courage saved potentially hundreds of others.