It seemed all roads led to Kandala on Wednesday, making the sleepy village in Mohali abuzz since morning. A large number of visitors flocked to the sprawling Munjal Farmhouse to offer condolences to Karambir Singh Kang, the general manager of Mumbai’s Hotel Taj Mahal who lost his wife and two sons in the terror attack on November 26. Sitting with parents Major General Jagtar Singh Kang (Retd) and Kamaljit Kaur, sister Amrit Kaur and other close relatives, Karambir observed complete silence, not sharing a single word with anyone. Phones kept ringing and so did the door bells, but he remained undeterred, still too numb to speak.Karambir and his parents arrived here late on Tuesday night after performing the last rites of Niti (40) and sons Uday (14) and Samar (5) in Mumbai. When Karambir’s wife and sons were trapped inside the hotel, he was away to the hotel’s extension in Bandra for an official meeting. After Niti called him up and broke the terror news, Karambir rushed back within 45 minutes.His mother Kamaljit said Karambir called her up in Bahrain on Wednesday night and told her that the hotel had been attacked and that Niti, Uday and Samar were trapped inside. “I told him to immediately rush inside and rescue as many people as he can,” she recalled.Following his mother’s advice, Karambir, who was outside the hotel when the terrorists attacked, ran inside and rescued many visitors and staff members.“He saved many amid firing and grenade explosions, but he could not reach the sixth floor where his family was trapped in their residential suite,” said Kamaljit.Even as Karambir kept trying to reach his family, repeated grenade explosions set the upper floors on fire, following which security forces pulled him out to safety, despite his resistance.Karambir’s father clarified that Niti and her sons were neither shot dead, nor burnt to death. “They had locked themselves inside a toilet, where they died of asphyxiation,” he said.The retired Major General expressed concern over the lack of will and power on part of the authorities to contain terror once and for all. He said the tall claims and statements made by politicians on the so-called fight against terrorism were only a temporary phase, which would end soon. “All will get silent before the terrorists strike again and leave many more like us shattered,” he said.LAST PRAYERSThe antim ardas for the deceased will be held at a gurdwara in Phase XI, Mohali, on Monday. The antim ardas for Jasmine, a 22-year-old hotel management trainee from Mohali who was gunned down by militants at Hotel Oberoi-Trident in Mumbai, will be performed at her Phase-IX house on Sunday.
