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NEVER FORGET 26/11: When a newsman walked past death & Kasab's bullet

26/11: Anil Nirmale recounts the fateful night

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Till date, Anil Nirmale has trouble forming a fist after his right hand was hit by bullet outside Metro on November 26
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On the night of November 26, 2008, a bullet scraped Anil Nirmale's fingers, near Metro Cinema, Marine Lines. Nirmale, who worked for a television channel and was stationed on duty there, was engrossed in covering Ajmal Kasab's crazy gun-laced run. Ten years later, Nirmale can still feel the swoosh of the bullet as it ripped off the flesh from his palm. "I can even hear it all, the fear is still there," he told DNA, when this correspondent met him on Thursday.

For Nirmale, surviving Kasab's wrath was like rebirth. "I thought I was dead then," he said.

Nirmale had covered many extraordinary events as a cameraman earlier — from floods to bomb blasts and riots — but none came close to what this assignment entailed. In fact, on November 26, Nirmale had already packed for the day and reached his residence. "I was asked to return to duty and cover what seemed like a gang-war shootout then. For a long time, it was not clear what was really happening that evening," Nirmale recalled.

The cameraman reached Metro at about 10.30 pm. He remembers seeing police vans everywhere and could hear gunshots. "This was unusual because at that time, it is usually a peaceful spot. "I saw a police jeep packed with police officials rushing towards CSMT station. We — as in all the media people standing there — were told to squat and secure ourselves. It was almost midnight when I saw the same jeep coming from the opposite direction this time and realised that something was wrong," recounts Nirmale.

Sensing that there would be something for him to shoot, Nirmale took aim. "Terrorist Ismail was driving this police jeep and Kasab was firing from it. He fired a slew of bullets in our direction and one went through three fingers of my right hand. My camera fell and a terrible numbing sensation gripped my entire right limb. That is my last memory of that day."

He was later operated on at JJ Hospital and for once, he who covers news himself became the news. "My family was shocked to see me on TV and my mother refused to believe I was okay till she saw me in person," smiles Nirmale. While recovery since has been difficult, Nirmale shrugs and says, "Life has to go on."

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