Date:25/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/25/stories/2008122557252400.htm

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‘He always put his life at risk to save others’

Anupama Katakam

Shinde was the first police officer to be killed by terrorists in the Mumbai attack

MUMBAI: Police inspector Shashank Shinde had been on night shift for three days. On November 26 although his shift was over he came in the evening to work as he was not sure whether the duty officer had come in.

Once he met his substitute, he called his wife and told her he was leaving for home. That would be the last conversation with her.

Shinde died that night while combating two terrorists who had opened fire at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. He would be the first senior officer among four who lost their lives when Mumbai was attacked by a small band of terrorists on November 26.

According to a colleague, when they heard there was gun firing at the railway station, they rushed out to the spot.

Since they (including Shinde) were attached to the Government Railway Police (GRP), it was in their jurisdiction to address the trouble at the busy terminal.

“Since Shashank always carried his service revolver, it was he who immediately fired at the terrorists. Unfortunately, a revolver is no match for a machine gun and when they returned fire, he was shot in the abdomen,” said the officer who knew him well.

“I am not surprised that he immediately rushed out and tried to combat those guys. That was his nature. Duty was very important to him. Even if he was at home and he knew this was happening he would have gone back to the station to do his duty,” said Shinde’s daughter Aditi.

“He would have always put his life at risk to save others.”

After my mother spoke to him, the next call she got was from a colleague of his to say my father had been seriously injured in the firing at CST and that she must come to the hospital. When she got to St. Georges Hospital he was already dead.

A frequent occurrence

Terror attacks have been occurring frequently in various parts of the country. It doesn’t appear as though anyone is taking it seriously, says Aditi, who is a second year engineering student. “How many more innocent people will lose their lives before the government finds a solution.”

A quiet personality

Shinde’s colleagues say he was a hard working man with a large heart and quiet personality.

A 1987 batch police officer, Shinde had worked at Mumbai police’s Crime Branch and in the Traffic Police section before he served the GRP.

His wife Mansi, an LIC officer, and two daughters Aditi and Nivedita, who is in high school, survive him.