NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: At least 101 people have been killed in attacks by
gunmen in Mumbai, police said on Thursday. ( Watch
Dome of Taj hotel in flames in Mumbai after the terror attack (AFP
Photo)
More Pictures
)
"At least six foreigners have been killed and the death figure has gone
up to 101 now," Ramesh Tayde, a senior police officer told from Mumbai's
control room.
In one of the most violent terror attacks on Indian soil, Mumbai came
under an unprecedented night attack as terrorists used heavy machine guns,
including AK-47s, and grenades to strike at the city's most high-profile
targets -- the hyper-busy CST (formerly VT) rail terminus; the landmark Taj
Hotel at the Gateway and the luxury Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; the
domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Cama and GT hospitals near CST; the Metro
Adlabs multiplex and Mazgaon Dockyard -- killing at least 101 and sending
hundreds of injured to hospital, according to latest reports. ( Watch )
The attacks have taken a tragic toll on the city's top police brass: The
high-profile chief of the anti-terror squad Hemant Karkare was killed; Mumbai's
additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte was gunned down outside
the Metro; and celebrated encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar was also killed.
( Watch )
The attacks appeared to be aimed at getting international attention as
the terrorists took upto 40 British nationals and other foreigners hostage. The
chairman of Hindustan Unilever Harish Manwani and CEO of the company Nitin
Paranjpe were among the guests trapped at the Oberoi. All the internal board
members of the multinational giant were reported to be holed up in the Oberoi
hotel.
Two terrorists were reported holed up inside the Oberoi Hotel. Fresh
firing has been reported at Oberoi and Army has entered the hotel to flush out
the terrorists.
An unknown outfit, Deccan Mujahideen, has sent an email to news
organizations claiming that it carried out the Mumbai attacks. ( Watch )
The Army and Navy in Mumbai were put on alert. 65 Army commandos and 200
NSG commandos were being rushed to Mumbai, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.
The Navy commandos too have been asked to assist the police. Special
secretary M L Kumawat is in constant touch with the state police.
Some media reports attributed the attack to Lashkar-e-Taiba. There were
also unconfirmed reports that some of the terrorists came in by sea. A boat
laden with explosives was recovered later at night off the Gateway of India.
Well after midnight, sources said two of the terrorists were shot and
wounded at Girgaum in south Mumbai. The two were driving in a commandeered
silver-coloured Skoda car. Earlier, these men had sprayed bullets from a police
Bolero, outside the Metro Adlabs multiplex.
The attacks occurred at the busiest places. Besides hotels and hospitals,
terrorists struck at railway stations, Crawford Market, Wadi Bunder and on the
Western Express Highway near the airport. Several of these places are within a
one-km radius of the commissioner of police's office.
"This is definitely a terrorist strike. Seven places have been attacked
with automatic weapons and grenades. Terrorists are still holed up in three
locations Taj and Oberoi hotels and GT Hospital. Encounters are on at all three
places," said Maharashtra DGP A N Roy.
St George's Hospital and G T Hospital were said to have received 75
bodies and more than 250 injured people, additional municipal commissioner R A
Rajeev said. Bombay Hospital got two bodies and 30 injured people were admitted
there; Cooper Hospital, Vile Parle, got three dismembered bodies.
Three of the deaths occurred inside the Taj and one G T Hospital
attendant died in a shootout inside the hospital. There were reports of people
cowering under tables and chairs at both the Taj as well as G T Hospital.
Metro Junction resident Manoj Goel said: "My brother, Manish, died in the
firing at Colaba's Hamaal Galli." Cops fired back at the men -- probably from
one of the Lashkar groups, dressed in black and with backpacks and SRPF, Crime
Branch, ATS and teams of military commandos were summoned to the spot. Train
services at CST were suspended and all roads leading to and from south Mumbai
were blockaded.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh cut short his Kerala visit
and was returning to Mumbai. He described the situation in Mumbai as "very
serious". ( Watch )
Deshmukh promised "stringent action" against the assailants but the mood
across Mumbai was not so optimistic.
There were reports of firing around several landmark buildings in the
Colaba-Nariman Point area, including the Taj hotel, Oberoi and other tourist
attractions and pubs like Leopold's. The top floor of Oberoi was said to be on
fire amid reports of blasts in the area and blood-smeared bodies were being
brought out of the Taj lobby.
Terrorists were said to be holed up at the Taj as well as G T Hospital
and cops scampered to cordon off these places. A white flag was seen fluttering
from an Oberoi Hotel window around 11.20 pm, where a blast was said to have
occurred.
The blast on the Western Express Highway -- near Centaur Hotel outside
the airport -- occurred in a taxi, deputy commissioner of police Nissar Tamboli
said.
The firing and bombing started close to the Gateway of India. The
gunbattle then moved on towards CST and raged on for over an hour from 10 pm,
sending commuters running out of the station.
The assailants also fired into the crowd at CST and people on the trains
and then ran out of the station themselves and into neighbouring buildings,
including Cama Hospital, after being challenged by cops.
SRPF personnel then entered the iconic BMC building -- just opposite CST
-- to take aim at the assailants, BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak said. "We fear
some of the assailants are still inside the station and we want to catch them
if they come out,'' a police official said.
Vikhroli police station senior inspector Habib Ansari was on his way to
work from his Colaba home when he saw two armed men, with sophisticated
weaponry, trying to run into bylanes near the Gateway of India."I rushed back
to Colaba and all policemen, including GRP and RPF personnel, were called up,"
he added.
--
Ganesh M
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