The interviews, the students say, brought them in touch with not just the policeman, but the father, son, brother and passionate human being in them.

“Our perception of a cop as a lazy, corrupt havaldar has changed forever,” said Sadaf Modak (20) who has completed her BMM from Ruia College and wants to pursue a career is print journalism.

“There were 18 policemen who died that day and each one had a story of courage to tell. However many constables, railway police force men and sub-inspectors still remain anonymous. We wanted to bring together their lives into one book,” explained Manavi Deopura (22), who is pursuing a one-year journalism course from JM.

The 72-page book will be available in Crossword and Landmark bookstores across the country. The proceeds from the sale of the books, priced at Rs 500 per copy, will be donated to a fund for providing education to the families of the martyrs.

Manavi met the families of Shasank Chandrasen Shinde, a well-read, educated inspector of the RPF who had studied history and political science and completed post graduate in law, and Bapurao Sahebrao Durugade, a jovial sub-inspector with a penchant for movies and good food. “They were both so different in position and yet so similar in nature. I learnt from their families that both were extremely dedicated and deeply interested in current affairs. Both would read voraciously,” she says.

At Durugade’s two-room home in the police quarters in Sewri, life goes on. “His mother and three children didn’t know about the circumstances of his death. Durugade died while guarding the Cama Hospital periphery. He was guiding people away when he came across two young men. Mistaking them for students, he went up to them and was shot point blank,” says Manavi. She is amazed that the family said they’d rather not know the details.