New NIA chief’s 26/11 story: A pitched battle with gunman Ajmal Kasab

Date took on Kasab and Ismail on the rooftop of the Cama and Albless Hospital, where the two terrorists went after opening fire inside the CST

Sadanand Date, who takes over as the new National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief, has served in many top positions in the city and state, but it was his close encounter with two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives during the November 26, 2008, terrorist attacks in Mumbai that he will be most remembered for.

Sadanand Vasant Date

Abu Ismail led a gang of 10 LeT operatives that reached the city from Karachi by sea and created mayhem for the following 48 hours, killing 166 people and injuring more than 300. Ajmal Amir Kasab was the sole 26/11 attacker to be arrested alive and after a trial, was found guilty of waging war against India, among other charges, and hanged to death.

Date, who was posted in Mumbai as additional commissioner of police (Central Region) at the time, took on Kasab and Ismail on the rooftop of the Cama and Albess hospital, where the two terrorists went after opening fire inside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).

Date stepped out of his official residence in Malabar Hill as news spread about the terrorist attack on the city, like several other brave police personnel. He collected a Carbine rifle from a police station in South Mumbai and set out with a small team towards the hospital after learning over the radio that two terrorists had entered the newly built six-storey building in the hospital complex. The two went on to kill seven people and injure 10 others, including Date and his team.

Around 11.00 pm, Date reached the hospital along with his personal staff and a small team of policemen attached to the nearby Azad Maidan police station. The two terrorists opened gunfire using AK-56 rifles and hand grenades, as the cops reached the sixth floor. A grenade landed near Date’s foot, injuring the team. Date reportedly fell unconscious, receiving injuries in his eye, throat, chest, and right knee as well as deep wounds on his left ankle. He was moved to KEM Hospital in Parel for treatment — by then the terrorists had fled.

Mohan Shinde, a head constable at the Azad Maidan police station, who was part of Date’s team, later recalled how they engaged Ismail and Kasab for around 45 minutes. “One bullet hit the lift and got lodged in my abdomen. I fired two rounds but couldn’t lift my hand after I got hit. Two colleagues, constable Vijay Khandekar and sub-inspector Prakash More, were killed. The terrorists managed to escape after injuring all of us,” said Shinde.

Twenty minutes after leaving the hospital, Kasab and Ismail killed the then Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, inspector Vijay Salaskar and additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte in an adjoining lane, before using their police van as a getaway vehicle.

Born December 14, 1966, Date is an officer of the 1990 batch of the Indian Police Service. He has held several important posts at both the state and national levels, including serving as deputy inspector general of police in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He completed a postgraduate course in commerce and has a doctorate from Pune University. Date is also a qualified cost and management accountant and attended the University of Minnesota as part of the Hubert H Humphrey fellowship programme and learnt about white-collar and organised crimes in the United States. On his return to India, he was posted as additional commissioner of police, Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police. He was awarded the President's Medal in 2007. He was also the first commissioner of police for the Mira-Bhayandar and Vasai-Virar police commissionerate. His last posting was as the director general of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad.