‘Police official in front ducked, luckily so did I’

Vasant Prabhu, The Indian Express photographer’s first person account

“I was going towards Cafe Leopold, but was prevented by crowds from moving ahead. So I moved towards Taj Hotel. I was not allowed to go near the hotel as well, but I got inside with the help of a senior police official. Once inside, we heard some noise coming from upstairs. We started climbing up the staircase. When we reached the third floor of the building, we saw two bodies lying near the staircase. All of a sudden we also found ourselves being fired at by terrorists. The police official ahead of me was able to duck and luckily, so was I. We were able to escape into a corridor from where we could hear the terrorists shouting abuses at us. As we came down, we saw bodies of two foreigners.

By the time we came into the hotel lobby, the hotel had been sealed off from all sides. The hotel staff prevented me from going out of the building and locked me in a housekeeping room instead along with a very old lady, who seemed to be some VIP.

“The hotel staff and police were making arrangements to take the lady out of the hotel in a vehicle. I requested the lady to let me accompany her in her vehicle. She agreed and I managed to come out of the hotel and file my photos.”