Killer146;s grin still sends chill through survivor

It was a smile Manoj Kanojia would never forget. The chilling smile on the face of Ajmal Kasab after he opened fire at passengers at Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus.

It was a smile Manoj Kanojia would never forget. The chilling smile on the face of Ajmal Kasab after he opened fire at passengers at Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus.

Kanojia, waiting at CST for his cousin due to arrive by a Lucknow train, had dozed off when the sound of bullets woke him up. And then, he saw Kasab standing a few yards away, smiling with satisfaction as bullet-riddled bodies started falling. At that moment, Kasab 8212; the only one among the perpetrators of the 26/11 carnage to be caught alive8212; reminded Kanojia of a player gloating after winning a cricket match.

8220;His expression reminded me of the excitement one feels during a cricket match one is winning. Even as he continued to fire at hapless passengers, there was a chilling smile on his face that showed no remorse and he walked past the bloodied bodies as if he didn8217;t notice them at all,8221; said 27-year-old Kanojia, a laundry worker undergoing treatment at the J J Hospital. Thee bullets had hit Kanojia.

On November 26, Kanojia arrived at CST at 9.15 pm to learn the train in which his cousin was due to arrive was a couple of hours late. It would arrive only at 11 pm.

8220;I stay in Khargar and couldn8217;t have gone back and returned. To kill two hours I lay down near platform no 14. Minutes later, I heard shots and bullets whizzed past me. When I turned over to look where they were coming from, I spotted Kasab. He was standing a few footsteps from me and I could make out every detail of his face. He was young, fair, well-built and was smiling,8221; said Kanojia.

Kasab kept firing indiscriminately and moving towards the local train platforms and two bullets hit the palm of his right hand. One grazed his shoulder. After the gunmen had moved to the other end of the station, Kanojia ran to the exit that opens up to the BEST stand.

8220;I met a couple of policemen outside and told them I needed immediate medical attention. But they put me in a taxi and told the driver to take me to a hospital. Neither I nor the driver knew where any hospital in the area was. He dropped me at a police chowki near Metro theatre. It was a motorcyclist passing by who dropped me at Bombay Hospital,8221; said Kanojia.

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He was later shifted to J J Hospital where he is under treatment. Doctors have told him that they might have to amputate his thumb if it didn8217;t heal soon. Despite this, Kanojia feels his mental scars will take longer to heal than the physical trauma. Counting his blessings at being alive despite three bullet injuries, Kanojia has decided that he, his wife and three year-old son will return to his native village as soon as his treatment is over.

8220;Watching fellow human beings butchered is not a memory that will fade soon. Even when I am wide awake, I get sudden flashes of that day when I saw people being riddled with bullets. I have spent 20 years in this city without any fear, but now every time I will leave my house it will be with a fear that I may not return. I will go back to my village and plough my one bigha land and be safe rather than stay here in the shadow of death,8221; said Kanojia.