26/11 cop Ombale did not want daughters to join police

Mumbai: Tukaram Ombale, assistant sub-inspector, whose valour led to the capture of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab during the 26/11 terror attacks, did not want his daughters to join the police force.

"Neither me nor any of my three sisters would join the police force respecting our father's wish," Ombales third daughter Vaishali told PTI.

Ombale, who was courage personified as he grappled unarmed with AK 47-wielding Kasab at Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai on November 26-27 night, made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty, but not before he had ensured the capture of at least one of the ten Pakistani terrorists on their diabolic mission alive.

"My father did not want us girls to join the police force. He had his own reasons. All he wished for us was to be happy," Vaishali, who has completed her B Ed, said.

Her youngest sister Bharti has been offered a clerical job in government as part of the state government's compensation.

"I will soon take up a teaching assignment and look after the family. Some of my fathers dreams remain unfulfilled. I will try to fulfil those, said 25-year-old Vaishali, who finds it painful to recollect the sequence of events of the dreadful night as the first anniversary of the dastardly attacks approaches.

"On the morning of November 27, my elder sister Pavitra called informing us that Papa has been injured. She came to know of it while watching news channels," recalls Vaishali.

"We could not believe her as I had spoken to Papa at around 12.30 a.m. and he said he was fine. Disbelieving, I started calling Papa to find out if he was all right. As the phone was constantly switched off I felt a shiver run through me," reminisces Vaishali.

Vaishali then called the D B Marg police station and was told that Ombale had been admitted to the Harkishandas hospital.

"As we were stepping out of the house to go to the hospital, we saw Papas colleagues coming towards us. Their sombre faces confirmed our worst fears," she said.

On the fateful night of November 26-27 Ombale was among the posse of policemen present at Girgaum Chowpatty when they were alerted about two terrorists on the run on a hijacked Skoda car.

As the Skoda advanced towards them ominously, the policemen tried to stop the vehicle, prompting the terrorists to open a burst of fire. One of the policemen returned the fire and got a terrorist, but the other, who ultimately turned out to be Kasab, pretended to surrender, and as Ombale rushed to overpower him, opened fire.

In a flash, Ombale clutched the barrel of the AK 47 with both hands and, despite taking bullets, did not let go of him.

Ombale's colleagues pounced on Kasab and pinned him down.

Ombale, in his late 40s, had succeeded in doing with his bare hands what could not be done by many others who wore bullet-proof jackets and carried automatic weapons - capture alive a perpetrator of one of the most audacious terror strikes in recent memory.