FOR most people, Ratan Tata was affability personified but the industrialist demonstrated resoluteness when it mattered, particularly during the 26/11 terror attacks, recalled Maharashtra’s Additional Director General of Police Vishwas Nangre Patil on Thursday. “Ratan Tata stood like a rock for three days outside the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Colaba as security forces carried out an operation against Lashkare-Taiba terrorists,” Nangre Patil told PTI. Nangre Patil was the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) in south Mumbai and was among the first set of officers who entered the iconic hotel and fought the Pakistani terrorists in November 2008.

 

The senior IPS officer said Tata displayed resoluteness, uncharacteristic of his calm demeanour, when the iconic hotel came under attack. As the operation against the terrorists went on, Tata could be seen standing outside the hotel for most of the time. He would frequently interact with the security personnel and his staff members, he said. Not just humans, Tata was equally worried about the five to six stray dogs that were affected by the exchange of fire in the hotel’s vicinity. He fed the animals, said Nangre Patil, calling Tata a great human being. After the operation ended and the terrorists were neutralised, he pledged to reopen the hotel, which had suffered damages, and support the family members of those killed and injured in the attack.

 

Within a month, theTaj hotel was operational though it took another 21 months to restore its heritage facade and grandeur. In 2009, he unveiled a memorial at the hotel to honour the 31 people, including his employees and guests, who had lost their lives in the terror attack there. He also formed theTaj Public Service Welfare Trust to help people during disasters. Police officer Deepak Dhole, who was seriously injured while fighting the terrorists inside the hotel, called Tata a “real gem of the country”