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Bachchan keeps gun under pillow in Mumbai

Fri Nov 28, 2008 8:24pm IST
 
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bollywood film icon Amitabh Bachchan slept with a loaded gun under his pillow as militants attacked the city of Mumbai, he wrote in his blog.

Bachchan, a long-time resident of the city and arguably India's biggest superstar, said he was ashamed to reveal what he did as the "events of the terror attack unfolded" around him on Wednesday night and Thursday.

"Before retiring for the night, I pulled out my licensed .32 revolver, loaded it and put it under my pillow," Bachchan, 66, wrote in his blog (bigb.bigadda.com).

The actor said he spent the entire day watching in "anguish and in anger" as TV channels broadcast visuals of commandos battling holed-up militants at the Taj and Trident-Oberoi luxury hotels and a Jewish centre in the city.

A small group of men armed with assault rifles and grenades fanned out across the city on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and businessmen, including the city's top two luxury hotels.

Mumbai, a city of 18 million, is the nerve-centre of India's growing economic might and home to the Bollywood film industry.

Pigeons fly in front of Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai November 26, 2009. Mumbai's police paraded past some of the city's landmarks in a show of strength as India's financial hub marked the first anniversary of militant raids that killed 166 people and ratched up tensions with Pakistan. The hotel was one of the sites of the attacks. REUTERS/Arko Datta
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