Senior advocate Anand Bhatt among the dead

Senior advocate and solicitor Anand Bhatt was among those who never came back from their Wednesday evening’s visit to the Oberoi. Bhatt, who the legal fraternity will always remember as a humble and straight-forward man, had become a grandfather just months ago.

“In his last text message, sent to his wife in London, he said he was being moved to a safe place,” said Janak Dwarakadas, senior advocate of Bombay High Court.

Quite a few of his colleagues, including Navroz Seervai, Pravin Samdhani and JJ Bhatt, assembled outside the luxury hotel, waiting to hear about their friend.

When his name did not feature on the list of rescued on Friday, Bhatt’s friends made inquiries with the police. They were told that Bhat had been shot dead by the terrorists on the hotel roof.

The victim is survived by his wife and two daughters. His wife returned to the city on Friday. His daughters, both living abroad, were on their way.

Bhat is one of the legal luminaries of Wadia Ghandy & Co, one of the topmost legal firms in the country.