Icus Tukarami: New spider species discovered in India named after hero police officer

The assistant sub-inspector took multiple bullets at point-blank range to protect other officers

File photo: A spider sits in the centre of its web on a residential balcony in New Delhi on 7 April, 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)

Scientists have named a new species of spider discovered in India’s Maharashtra state after hero cop Tukaram Omble who took multiple bullets and helped capture terrorist Ajmal Kasab during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The researchers, including Dhruv A Prajapati from the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation in India, noted that the genus Icius was only recently found in India, with four species being described to date, indicating that the diversity spider species in this genus could be much higher than currently known.

According to the scientists, the study describes two new species of the genera Phintella and Icius from Maharashtra, of which one, Icius tukarami, is named after Omble.

“The specific epithet is dedicated to a hero of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, ASI Tukaram Omble AC, who took 23 bullets and captured the terrorist of the attack,” the study, published in the journal Arthropoda Selecta, noted.

During the terror attacks, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Omble grabbed the rifle of terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan when they attempted to flee after ambushing a police team outside the Cama hospital in the city.

The ASI took multiple bullets at point-blank range to protect other officers at the spot, which gave them enough time and cover to overpower and capture Kasab alive.

He was posthumously awarded India’s highest peacetime gallantry award Ashoka Chakra for his bravery.

During the attacks, the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) coordinated 12 shooting and bombings across Mumbai, including at the Taj Hotel, Leopold Cafe, and Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus, and Cama Hospital.

The attacks lasted for four days in the city from 26 November 2008, killing over 150 people and injuring more than 300.

By the morning of 28 November, 2008, security forces and Mumbai police had secured all sites except the Taj Hotel, and on the following day the National Security Guards (NSG) flushed out the hotel and killed the last remaining attackers.