Isaque Bagwan, then assistant commissioner of police (ACP), had gone for his daily evening walk to Marine Drive on November 26, 2008. The Arabian Sea seemed calm, a deceptive one that Bagwan realised later. "I recall reaching my home in Colaba; my wife was waiting for me for dinner. I told my wireless man and driver to leave for the day," he said.

The call
Bagwan, however, never got to dinner; instead, he got a phone call. "[It was] from the commissioner Hasan Gafoor, telling me to rush to Leopold Café, where firing was on." The super cop took his revolver (a toy against the beasts AK47s and grenades he would face) and sped to the Café, the wailing police siren cutting through the silence of the night.