By Devapriyo Bhattacharjee, IANS,
Mumbai : Not just the rich, even the poor were not spared in the Mumbai terror massacre.
One of the dead was Thakur Buddhabhai Waghela, a sweeper employed at the G.T. hospital who was gunned down Wednesday night while having dinner at his home.
“My brother was at home when the terrorists went on a rampage, killing him on the spot,” said his distraught younger brother Bharat Waghela.
They lived in a house provided by hospital authorities near the G.T. and Cama hospitals on Badruddin Tayebji road. The gunmen had taken that road from the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, to go to Metro Cinema.
Recalling those horrific moments while seated at the same house where his brother was killed, Bharat told IANS: “We heard there was firing at the C.S.T. station but we never thought the killers would come this way.
“But within half hour, someone noticed the gunmen approaching our side shooting everyone on their way. Immediately, we all ran to save our lives, into our compound.
“In the confusion, a ‘bhelpuri’ vendor fell on the ground and the terrorists shot him dead,” he said.
“They proceeded further and noticed that someone was inside our house and shot him. It was my brother. He died as the bullet hit his lower back.”
The dead man had simply shut the door but not locked it. The gunmen kicked it opened, took aim and shot him dead.
Bharat said the terrorists also went to several houses. Where they found the doors shut and locked from inside, they knocked and sought water.
“They spoke in Hindi and said ‘Darwaza kholo, thoda paani milega kya. Humlog bahut pyase hai’ (Open the door and give us some water, we are very thirsty),” said Bharat.
“But by then everyone knew who they were. Fortunately no one opened their doors.”
Then the terrorists walked on the road and saw a man running. They shot him. He was Bhagan Gangaram Shinde, a ward boy of the G.T. hospital.
But despite the bullet injury, Shinde managed to reach his home, panting and in pain, and locked the door.
Shinde later succumbed to his injuries.
Eager to kill moe, the terrorists then commandeered a police van after gunning down three policemen, said Shinde’s nephew Shyam Jadhav.
The dead Waghela, only 33, worked as a sweeper at the GT hospital for a salary of Rs.5.000. He is survived by wife Karuna Thakur (28) and sons Dhawal (8) and Neeraj (6) and daughter Roshni (12).
Bhagan Gangaram Shinde (44) is survived by his wife Sunanda (35), son Aashish (13), daughter Ashwini (10) and mother Shantabai (60).
Shinde was the sole earning member of his family and earned Rs.6,000 a month.
At least 183 people, including 22 foreigners, were killed in the terror attack in Mumbai that began Wednesday night and ended only Saturday afternoon.
Most deaths took place at the five star Taj and Oberoi-Trident hotels.
Twenty security personnel also lost their lives in the carnage. They included some of the finest officers of Mumbai Police and two commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG).