November 26, 2024: Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan will honor the brave heroes of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in a special episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati 16, airing on Tuesday, as the nation commemorates the 16th anniversary of the tragic events. The episode will feature two frontline warriors—Shri Vishwas Nangre Patil, Additional Director General of Police, and Sanjay Govilkar, Additional Superintendent of Police—who will recount their harrowing experiences from that fateful night.
In the promo for the episode, Shri Vishwas Nangre Patil, who served as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) for South Mumbai during the attacks, shared chilling details of his role in the operation at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
Recalling the terrifying night, Vishwas said, “That night, I received a call reporting grenade blasts and AK-47 firing sounds at the Taj. Without waiting for a bulletproof vest, Amit and I went inside first. As we approached the staircase, we saw three terrorists carrying haversacks and armed with AK-47s. I took a battle-ready position and fired three rounds, sir. One of the bullets hit a terrorist named Abu Ali. Each of them had an AK-47, six double magazines, 50 bullets, and 20 to 25 grenades. Their plastic bag contained 8 kg of RDX bombs, sir, which they detonated.”
Describing the nightmarish conditions inside the Taj, he added, “The lights went out, the cameras were damaged, and we had to decide to step out. It was completely dark and filled with smoke, making it impossible to see each other. Then Rahul Shinde, a 21-year-old boy with me, came carrying a .303 rifle. My bodyguard, Amit Khetle, was shot in the stomach, and Rahul was also shot. I went to retrieve Rahul’s martyred body, sir.”
Vishwas recalled the emotional moment when he saw Rahul’s lifeless body, “I saw his eyes were open, sir—just a 21-year-old boy. The butt of his .303 rifle rested on his shoulder, the gun pointed upwards, and his finger was still on the trigger guard. Fighting until the very end, he became a martyr.”
The special episode will pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of those who risked their lives to protect Mumbai and its people during the attacks carried out by terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba. At least 174 people were killed in the attacks, including 20 security personnel and 26 foreign nationals, while more than 300 were injured. Some of the iconic sites targeted included Leopold Café, the Taj Hotel, Nariman House, Oberoi Trident Hotel, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
As the nation reflects on the horrors of the 26/11 attacks, this special Kaun Banega Crorepati episode serves as a poignant reminder of the courage and selflessness shown by the security personnel, like Shri Vishwas Nangre Patil and his team, who worked tirelessly to protect Mumbai and its citizens in the face of unprecedented terror.
