Investigators have picked up clues: Patil

Investigators have picked up certain clues in connection with the terror attacks in Mumbai, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhion Thursday but refused to share details.

"We have certain information but it is premature information. It will not be proper to share premature information as it may compromise the ongoing operations," he told reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Singh is expected to visit Mumbai in a day or two, Patil said, adding the Prime Minister was in touch with Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

"We are ready to extend all help to the Maharashtragovernment. The Centre had sent naval commandos as also NSG commandos to help Mumbai police in the anti-terror operations," Patil said.

The Cabinet condemned the terror attacks in Mumbai as "dastardly" and expressed sympathy with the victims.

The bravery of senior police officers Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar and others who were killed in the encounter with terrorists came in for special mention during the meeting.

Patil briefed the Cabinet about the situation in Mumbai, where he said operations against terrorists were on at three places in the commercial capital.

The Home Minister parried questions on whether it was an intelligence failure and said that the Centre has inputs regarding terrorist activities.

 

Terrorists had left before I reached terror sites: Patil

 

"Before I could reach there, the terrorists who had attacked one of the hospitals, the Cama Hospital, had left and those who attacked the railway station had also left," Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhi on Thursday.

 

Patil, who briefed the Cabinet on the situation in Mumbai, was giving details to media about his visit to the city after terrorists struck there.

 

He said after the terrorists, who attacked Cama Hospital, "left" the police chased them and killed one of them and injured another.

 

Patil, who condemned the attack as an act of cowardice, said the country would remain strong even as the terrorists attempt to weaken and create difficulty for the Citizens.

The Home Minister had condoled the loss of lives, including top ranking police officers, in the attack and said their sacrifice would inspire the rest of the force to do their duty more resolutely.

 

Mumbai situation being dealt as 'war-time emergency': Jaiswal

 

The government on Thursday equated the Mumbai terror attacks to a "war" thrust upon the nation and vowed to give a "befitting" reply to the perpetrators.

 

"We are considering the terrorists attack in Mumbai as a war and dealing the situation like war-time emergency," Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters at New Delhi on Thursday.

 

Jaiswal said all necessary action was being taken to get to the bottom of the incident and arrest the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

 

"We want to assure people that a befitting reply will be given to the terrorists," he said.

 

"The Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) himself has been monitoring the situation since last night and is constantly in touch with the Chief Minister (Vilasrao Deshmukh)," he said.

 

Jaiswal said apart from the 200 National Security Guard commandos, those from Navy and Army were also deployed in Mumbai.

 

"Firing at a few places is still continuing and we hope that everything will be over very soon," he said.

 

Asked about who were behind the terror attacks, the Minister said it was too early to say anything at present.

24 hours later, Forces battle to flush out terrorists in Mumbai

Mumbai continued to be under siege on Thursday night despite a day-long operation by security forces to eliminate terrorists inside the Taj and Trident hotels where some 200 people remain trapped amid blasts and exchange of gunfire in the aftermath of Wednesday’s audacious terror strikes that has cost 101 lives.

Late in the night, there was a major fire in the Trident (Oberoi) hotel where about 200 people have been trapped and terrorists exploded grenades that set the roof ablaze.

 

The other scene of action was at Nariman House, a Jewish residential complex, where some Israelis have been held hostage by some three-four terrorists.

 

The hand of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is suspected in the worst terror attacks in the country but the outfit denied any involvement.

 

While all the hostages in Taj were evacuated to safety, the situation in Trident worsened with the terrorists involved in a grim battle with security forces.

 

There were heavy casualties among the staff in both the hotels with Taj alone accounting for 17 of them. G-o-CMaharashtra R H Hooda said they had done a detailed search of the 395-room hotel but declined to give numbers of terrorists holed up or those trapped.

 

Among the dead were nine foreigners and 14 police personnel including ATS chief Hemant Karkare and four other senior officers.

 

Security agencies have sought to blame LeT, one of whose activists was captured alive in Trident. He is said to be Abu Ismail hailing from Faridkot in Pakistan.

 

The terrorists numbering about 20-25 are believed to have landed on Mumbai shores after a mother vessel dropped them in three inflatable boats. Seven of them have been gunned down.

 

The Indian navy claimed that they have spotted the mother vessel and giving it a hot chase.

 

Even as the combing operations were underway, one more explosion rocked Taj which has already suffered several grenade blasts setting several rooms ablaze.

 

Taj general manager K S Kang lost his wife and two children in one of the fires set off by the terrorists.

 

Elite commandoes of the topline security forces from army, navy, NSG and Rapid Action Force were involved in the raging encounter with the heavily-armed terrorists in the two hotels.

 

As dusk fell, there was expectation that the forces would intensify their assault to overwhelm the terrorists who struck in ten places across the city. About 300 people were injured.

 

One of the army officials was quoted as saying that the terrorists spoke Punjabi and could be from Pakistan's Punjab.

 

State Home Minister R R Patil said authorities had "vital clues" about the attacks but gave no details.

 

The foreigners killed in the incidents included one each fromBritain, Japan, Australia and Italy. There were unconfirmed reports about two US nationals being among those killed.

 

A number of people, including MPs Lalmani Prasad (BSP) and Jaisingh Gaekwad (BJP) were stuck at Taj hotel.

 

As Wednesday’s night's terror incidents spread a sense of unease in the metropolis, schools and colleges were ordered closed.

 

The Bombay Stock Exchange did not function on Thursday.

 

Suburban trains and city buses operated normally but without usual rush. Except for cancellation of three international flights, domestic air services to Mumbai were maintained.

 

Nine foreigners killed in terror attacks in Mumbai

 

At least nine foreigners, including a woman, were killed and 18 injured when heavily armed terrorists attacked two luxury hotels and other public places in Mumbai in one of the worst terror strikes in the country on Wednesday night.

 

The slain foreigners included a Briton, an Australian, a Japanese and an Italian.

 

British High Commissioner Sir Richard Stagg said a UK national died in the attack on the Taj hotel, where seven of his compatriots were also injured.

 

"We have been checking in all hospitals and are making arrangements for the British nationals who are there in the city," he said, adding "we have also informed the family members."

 

According to residential medical officer of St George Hospital, Ulhal Vasave, seven bodies of foreign nationals were brought to the hospital on Wednesday night.

 

The body of one Japanese victim was brought to the Bombayhospital on Thursday morning.

 

The slain foreigners who have been identified are Braid Gilbert Taylor (49), an Australian; British national Andrias Leveras (aged about 75) yrs); a Japanese businessman Hisashi Tsuda (38) and an Italian Antonio de Lorenzo.

 

Two males and one female -- Michael Stert (73), Jeurgan Hetras Rudolph (68) and Stredder Daphne (50) -- were also among the dead, but their nationalities were yet to be ascertained. Two more slain foreigners were yet to be identified.

 

Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome said among the dead was an Italian national, identifying him as Antonio de Lorenzo.

 

All Italians who were in hotels or other areas attacked in Mumbai have been contacted "except for one or two people," the country's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a local TV channel.

 

"Some are locked up in their hotel rooms and the situation that they are describing outside is obviously frightening."

 

Japanese national Tsuda, who was working with Mtsui Marubeni Liquefied Gas Co, died at a hospital after being shot in the leg, stomach and chest at the Oberoi Trident hotel, the company's Vice President Hajime Tamaki said in Tokyo.

 

Its another employee, 44, fell and suffered light injuries as he fled the scene, he said, without identifying the injured by name.

 

Among the 60 injured admitted to Bombay hospital, 11 foreigners were from different nationalities, Dr Ashish Tiwari of the hospital said.

 

The injured foreigners are from Australia, USA, Norway, Spain,Canada and Singapore, he said.

A terrorist attack in Mumbai kills at least 100 people

THE sheer scale and audacity of the assault were staggering. Gangs of well-armed youths attacked two luxury hotels, a restaurant, a railway station and at least one hospital. Gunfire and explosions rang through Mumbai overnight on November 26th-27th and through the next morning. By Thursday November 27th more than 100 people were reported to have been killed, and the toll seemed likely to rise. Several foreigners, including some from America, Japan and Britain, were among the dead. So were over a dozen policemen, including Mumbai’s chief counter-terrorism officer. Up to 100 hostages, including selected American and British guests, were alleged to be held hostage inside a hotel.

Even in a city—and country—with a grim record of terrorist violence, these were extraordinary scenes. The attacks started at around 10.30pm on Wednesday, when gunmen started shooting and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station. Television footage showed two men shooting at random as they drove through nearby streets in a stolen police jeep.

Around the same time, a bomb was reported to have exploded in a taxi parked near the city’s main airport. More or less simultaneously, gunmen speaking Hindi and Urdu, the language of many north-Indian Muslims and of neighbouring Pakistan, stormed two hotels—the Taj Mahal and the Trident Oberoi—and Café Leopold, a restaurant popular with tourists. Police outside the Taj Mahal, India’s most famous hotel, lapped by the Arabian Sea, said gunmen arrived there by inflatable dinghy. In the early hours, a gunfight erupted on Marine Drive, the scenic coastal road seen in so many Bollywood films, in which another Mumbai police chief was killed.

As dawn broke, flames were rising from the domed roof of the Taj Mahal. Navy and army commandos, who had retaken the hotel’s lower floors and killed two terrorists, reported bodies in many rooms and perhaps half a dozen terrorists still living. A trickle of terrified employees and guests, some with gunshot wounds, continued to flee the building. One fugitive, Amit, a hotel-restaurant manager, said his chef had been hit by three bullets and many colleagues remained inside. A few badly-injured survivors were wheeled from the hotel on brass luggage-trolleys. By midday on Thursday most of the hostages were reported to have been released from the hotel, although there were reports of further shooting.

Meanwhile at the nearby Trident Oberoi, as many as 100 hostages were reported still to be held. Gunfire and explosions were reported from the upper storeys of the building.

There seemed little doubt that the attackers were Muslim militants of some description, but their exact provenance was unclear. Responsibility was claimed by a previously little-known group called the Deccan Mujahideen. Speaking to Indian television by telephone, a gunman holding hostages in the Trident Oberoi demanded that Muslim prisoners, including those captured in Kashmir, should be released from Indian jails. “Release all the mujahideens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled,” he said.

In the past five months India has suffered from a spate of Islamist militancy, with bomb-blasts in half a dozen cities, including Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur. A home-grown Muslim terrorist group, the Indian Mujahideen, has been blamed for the spree, in which over 150 people were killed. In a chilling, 14-page admission of responsibility for the Delhi bombings in September, the Indian Mujahideen castigated the counter-terrorism efforts of Mumbai’s police, and promised Mumbaikars future “deadly attacks”.

As India’s first indigenous Muslim terrorist group—so they have often been described—the Indian Mujahideen are a worrying sign. They seem to have evolved from a decade-long campaign by Pakistan-based militants, including many fighting an insurgency in Kashmir, to incite India’s 140m Muslims to revolt. These groups have been held primarily responsible for half a dozen major terrorist attacks in Mumbai in recent years. In 1993 local Muslim gangsters backed by Pakistan-based militants set off 13 near-simultaneous bomb-blasts in the city, killing more than 250 people. In 2006 another co-ordinated bombing spree on Mumbai’s railway killed over 180 commuters. A Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-toiba, was blamed at the time.

This week’s attacks in Mumbai seemed different, however. Attacks by bands of gunmen on numerous targets, instead of the mere laying of bombs, and the seizure of so many hostages, led to speculation, unsupported by evidence, that local militants in India could not have mounted the attacks without considerable foreign help. And the targets chosen—world famous hotels and Western tourists—was a new phenomenon for India, despite being a pattern familiar from attacks directed or inspired by al-Qaeda elsewhere in the world.

Al-Qaeda has often threatened to launch strikes on India. In 2006 Arab terrorists belonging to the organisation were foiled in an attempt to set off bombs in Goa, India’s main destination for foreign tourists. Among the targets of the latest attacks was a Jewish religious centre in southern Mumbai which was reported to have been attacked by the gunmen. Police said that an Israeli rabbi and his family were among a group being held as hostages in a nearby apartment block.

Despite these worrying signs, Indian officials have so far resisted suggestions that Indian Muslims are being radicalised and joining a global jihad. Many refer approvingly to the observation of George Bush that Muslims from India have not in general turned up to fight the infidels on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But security analysts have meanwhile despaired at the unpreparedness of India’s security agencies to counter a domestic Islamist threat. Whether or not al-Qaeda was behind the latest attack, that happy complacency must now have ended.