MAN WHO SAVED MANY
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26/11: Oberoi secuity head risked life to save many
Published on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 12:26, Updated on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 08:10 in India section
Tags: Mumbai Terror Attack, The Oberoi Hotel , Mumbai
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Mumbai: On the night of Mumbai terror attack almost everyone went beyond the call of duty, some with arms and some with plain courage. One such person was former chief security officer (CSO) for The Oberoi Hotel, Commander S Nagmote. His presence of mind saved many lives that night.
"I got a call that there is a blast, the person who called didn't realise that it was a gun fire initially," said Nagmote.
He entered the hotel minutes after the first round of fire.
"There was blood near the bell desk. I could see blood near the elevator because I think one of the Japanese guests was shot at by the terrorist at the bell desk area. He was pulled by his colleague at the elevator so I could see the blood stains on the floor, the blood of somebody being dragged," he said.
"What I really wanted was that I should have had a weapon like AK47 and I would have gone after these guys," he added.
Nagmote may not have managed to control the two terrorists, but he pledged that he would not allow any further collateral damage to the people or the property.
Two things that became a priority for Nagmote were managing the fire panel and conserving water to combat any fire and for those injured and stranded. He was aware that he was exposing himself and risking his life in the process. It was then that he saw water leaking down from the higher floors where the terrorists were hiding.
"I thought I must conserve water. So I went up to the 12th and 13th floors. Thereafter, I gave up because I didn't have a life jacket. I only knew the terrorists were on the top floor. I thought they were on the 21st floor. I knew the number of terrorist. I knew it from the CCTV camera footage that there were two terrorist," he said.
Nagmote put a list together of all those present at the hotel and called every guest to ensure that they felt safe. He made a 1,000 calls but forgot to dial one number of his worrying wife and daughter at home.
"The touching moment was when I switched on my cell phone and I had a SMS from my daughter saying that 'at least please call us and tell us that you are ok,'" he said.
The man who saved many lives lost one closest to him, his childhood friend Anti Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare.
"Personally the thing that moved me was the loss of the lives of the guests and of my employees and colleagues," he said.
"My dad came back home and saw gifts laid on the table and he asked what is going on? I told him it's my birthday. And him coming home was the best birthday gift," said his daughter, Suma Nagmote.
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