Lt Col R K Sharma's team shot dead 26/11 terrorist

Suspense over the identity of the leader of a National Security Guards (NSG) team which had shot dead a terrorist at Hotel Oberoi on November 26 last year got over with NSG informing police on Wednesday that he was Lt Col R K Sharma.

Earlier in response to summons issued by the court hearing the case, the NSG informed that Captain R K Sharma, whose name had cropped up in evidence, was not in their establishment. Now, NSG has informed that Lt Col R K Sharma had led the team which shot dead a terrorist.

The court summoned Captain R K Sharma of NSG to tender evidence as a witness after Assistant Chief Security Officer, Rajesh Kadam, testified that Captain Sharma was leading the team which killed a terrorist.

The prosecution submitted a letter of NSG to the Mumbai Crime Branch which said that they did not have Captain R K Sharma in their service. Judge M L Tahaliyani had taken the letter on record and asked the investigating officer Ramesh Mahale to find out and inform who had led the NSG team and killed a terrorist.

NSG has informed that it was not Captain Sharma but Lt Col Sharma who led the team. According to the prosecution, terrorists Fahadullah and Abdul Rehman Chhota had unleashed terror attack in Hotel Oberoi by firing at people and exploding bombs. Both were shot dead by NSG Commandos.

Four more witnesses today deposed before the court, taking the total number of those examined to 230. Doctors, Mohit Shetye and D A Sonawala of Jaslok Hospital who performed an emergency operation on a victim injured during firing at Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, deposed that they had retrieved a bullet from the victim's body.

The bullet was submitted to public relations officer of the hospital who in turn handed it over to police. Police officers Jagdish Rane and Madhav Jagtap also deposed in the court saying that they had seized certain articles under different panchnamas at the site of Mazgaon taxi blast and sent them to forensic laboratory for tests.