The Hindu Business Line : Mumbai terror: Day 2

Mumbai, Nov. 27 Full 24 hours after the first shots were fired in Wednesday’s terror attacks, the battle between security forces and the terrorists continued to rage in Mumbai late Thursday at three different locations, two in the unlikely backdrop of the lush interiors of the frontline luxury hotels – the Taj and the Trident-Oberoi.

And in the unlikely midst of diplomats, top corporate executives, the rich and the powerful.

At least 101 people died, (including seven foreigners), and 287 were injured in the terror attacks so far.

Of the dead, about 70 were from the Taj hotel attack alone, officials at the hotel said.

The multiple terror attacks have brought home to the city the chilling realisation that just nobody in the city is insulated from danger.

“We do not have a crisis infrastructure,” said Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of Indian Hotels which owns the Taj group of hotels.

“The terrible wanton attacks last night on innocent people and the destruction of prominent landmarks in India deserve to be universally condemned ,” he said in a statement here.

Over 450 rescued

The security personnel have rescued over 450 persons from the two hotels, said Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, at a news conference. He said that overnight, the terrorists had carried out attacks at 13 places across the city. The police department has lost 14 of its personnel and 12 were injured in the encounters.

Mumbai is much terror-scarred. But earlier terror attacks used to claim the lives of strap-hanging commuters in trains or traders at crowded market places.

But this time, they struck at the very doorstep of the elite.

Like a warzone

The Taj and the Trident are still cordoned off, surrounded by security forces. Curfew was imposed in Colaba. Mumbai was like a city on the battlefront, swarming with NSG commandos, army personnel, members of the anti terrorist squad and the fire brigade.

Onlookers could clearly hear blasts and exchange of gunfire from within the hotels. Several guests holed up at these hotels could be seen at the windows of their rooms, desperate to be rescued.

Directors of several blue chip companies happened to be at these hotels at the time of attacks for their board meetings, not to mention the night club regulars and scores of foreign tourists.

“Altogether there would be around 200 people inside the Oberoi complex in Mumbai. We believe that not less than 100 people are at the Oberoi side and not less than 100 in the Trident side,” the Vice-Chairman of Oberoi Hotels, Mr S. S. Mukherjee, told a news channel. He estimated last night’s occupancy at the hotel to be around 375-385.

There were shootings, grenade or bomb attacks at more than a dozen locations in the city, but at the rest of these places the situation had been brought to an end by early Thursday.

One of these locations was Leopold Café, which unlike the Taj and the Trident, attracts not the well-heeled foreign tourist, but the casual backpacker.

The targets of terror attacks were an unlikely range of places. While at the earlier-mentioned locations, foreign nationals, especially from the UK and the US were taken hostage or attacked, the other targets appeared to be chosen to create general panic and chaos.

Among the other targets were Cama and Albless Hospital and Chattrapati Shivaji Railway station (VT railway station).

Sixteen years after the 1992 bomb blasts in Mumbai, the vulnerability of the city to such attacks has not changed, but perhaps only the profile of the victims, was the sardonic comment from an onlooker at one of the sites.

Big blow

Shockingly for the authorities a big blow came early on in the beginning of the anti-terror effort when the chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad, Mr Hemant Karkare, was shot dead. Two other high profile police officials – the Additional Commissioner of Police, Mr Ashok Kamte, and the senior police inspector, Mr Vijay Salaskar – also paid with their lives.

The financial nerve centre of the city was duly paralysed for the day. Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange were closed, as were the commodity exchanges.

A lone cigarette-and-pan-vendor near the Bombay Stock Exchange complained there was no business, although people from broking offices who could not go home the previous night had been attended by him.

The banks observed an unofficial holiday in the city, although some of their suburban branches worked as usual.

Providential escape

A 16-member delegation of European Parliament had a providential escape as the members went out for the evening on Wednesday after checking in, said a wire report. Later they were housed at the French consulate.

Six columns of the Army, 200 commandos for NSG and Naval commandos (Marcos) have been deployed for flushing out the terrorists. Commando operations in Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and Nariman House are under way and it is likely to be over by Friday morning. The operations are being carried out by the NSG and they are methodically clearing the floors of the buildings which are under siege, Mr Deshmukh said.

Mr Deshmukh said that the exact numbers of terrorist involved are yet to be ascertained, but preliminary estimates indicate that 20 to 25 terrorists could be involved in the attack.

About eight terrorists have been killed in skirmishes with the security forces and one has been apprehended. The police have detained eight persons for questioning.

Early reports suggested that the attackers arrived by sea from overseas.

Avoiding the question posed by the media about identity and the nationality of the terrorists, Mr Deshmukh merely said that only after detailed investigation could their identity be fully established.

“Today our aim is to rescue the people and eliminate the terrorists,” he said.

Mumbai attack in pictures
Click here for latest developments