You won, I lost: Kasab said before the gallows

"You won, I lost," were the last words of Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, before he was taken to the gallows.

Kasab, the Lashkar-e-Toiba operative who was awarded the death sentence for his role in the 26/11 terror attacks, said these words to assistant commissioner of police Ramesh Mahale of the elite Crime Branch-CID, who was the chief investigation officer.

Kasab was hanged by his neck to death on November 21, 2012 in Pune's Yerawada central prison.

Before he was taken for the hanging, he told Mahale: "sahab, aap jeet gaye, mai haar gaya" (Sir, you won, I lost).

"It was a very good investigation that Mahale meticulously did," director general of police Datta Padsalgikar said, while releasing the officer's memoirs in Marathi: 'Me Ani Kasab' (Me and Kasab).

Mahale, who is now retired, was part of the nearly 100-member team, that carried out the investigations of the case under the overall supervision of the then joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria, who later became the Mumbai police chief and then director general of police.