Terror attacks in Mumbai again, 16 dead, several injured

[Aadi]

Terrorists struck at India's financial capital late Wednesday night as at least five near-simultaneous firings and explosions rocked
areas in the vicinity of posh hotels in South Mumbai, leaving two persons dead and ten injured.

Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall of crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST) railway station and opened fire and threw a grenade killing two to three persons, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said. He did not give details.

He, however, said 10 persons, including a policeman, were injured in the CST incident.

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.

Firing and blasts were also reported from Mazgaon, the Metro Junction, Crawford Market and Colaba. There were reports of a blast in a taxi on the Western Express Highway, near Vile Parle, but there was no confirmation.

The firing and bombing apparently started close to the Gateway of India. The gunbattle then moved on towards CST and raged on for over 45 minutes from 10 pm, sending commuters running out of the station.

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.

Bhisham Mansukhani, a journalist, was attending a wedding reception at the Taj's Crystal Room. "I was inside the bar when glass shards almost hit my eye," he said. "More than 200 people were escorted inside Chambers, a business centre inside the hotel," he added.

At least 101 people have been killed in attacks by gunmen in Mumbai, police said on Thursday

"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.

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.

"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.

Terrorists with AK 47 near CST railway station.

Some more Pics of After Terror Attacks:

[dr.nil]

As many of you are aware there have been a series of bomb blasts, hand grenade attacks and automatic fire in several parts of Mumbai.

We are unfortunately in the midst of what appears to be another and more brutal and extensive terrorist attack. These attacks are aimed to cause fear to disrupt our daily and economic lives.

[suchu]

These idiots does n’t know the vale of lives. In the name of god & religions, they are spoiling entire world.

All the great good wisher of people, Please pray for world peace.



Terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in downtown Mumbai, India, on the evening of November 26, 2008. At the same time, terrorists attacked the Oberoi Hotel and at least one train station. Terrorists reportedly asked for British and American guests at the Oberoi and are believed to be holding at least 40 hostages inside the hotel. A fire raged inside the Taj, with the dome of the luxury hotel billowing smoke. Terrorists had reportedly throwing grenades from the roof earlier.

[AshleyD]

Do not try to justify act of terrorists by citing examples and blaming some of the Hindu organizations as legitimate terrorist outfits.. it seems like all the acts of terrorism in India has softened the definitions of terrorist outfits.. Look back into last 1400 yrs of history.. could you cite a single example that can substantiate the claimed so called “Religion of Peace”..

India’s cong govt is essentially a bunch of eunuchs controlled by a foreign born woman.. most of the terrorist attacks have taken place under congress govt.. power hungry, minority which country on the earth considers 15 crore as a minority..

it is legacy of self proclaimed “father of nation”..

[Unwin]

11.49 am: One terrorist holed up at Colaba's Nariman House jumps onto the roof of the neighbouring building prompting additional para military forces to move into the area.

11.33 am: Army, NSG commandos storm the Taj. Two army men killed in the fierce gun battle

11.00 am: Shots, grenade blasts heard within Oberoi's trident hotel

10.30 am: Injured continue to pour out of the two hotel buildings. Ambulances move in to evacuate the injured

9.30 am: Stand off continues between terrorists and para military personel who have taken up positions around the two beseiged hotels

8.30 am: Fire brigade personal bring fire on Taj roof top under control

7.30 am: Curfew declared around Gateway of India area and around Oberoi hotel

6.40am: Hostage drama continues. Fresh, heavy firing at the Taj. 12 shots heard. Several Taj employees feared killed. 11 policemen killed

6.02am: CST station peaceful. Local and outstation train services have resumed. CM confirms 10 locations attacked in Mumbai.

5.59 am: Death toll touches 80. 9 terrorists arrested. 2 killed. 2 hostage situations - at Taj and Trident. 100 people still inside Taj. Fire still raging in Old Taj Mahal hotel. The entire top floor has been burnt out. Firing between the police and terrorists is still taking place there. Many bureaucrats, industrialists still stuck inside.

3 am: Army and navy personnel reach inside Trident Hotel (formerly known as Oberoi Towers). Commandos in Taj Mahal hotel

2.30am: Firing reportedly in Borivali area. Second blast in the Oberoi Hotel

2.13 am: IBN7 channel receives email from a group called Deccan Mujahideen claiming responsibility for the blasts.

1.55am: Fire in the old Taj Mahal Hotel building, started after the blast in the dome.

1.35am: Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar killed in gunfight with terrorists. Anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare also reported killed! Additional Commissioner Ashok Kampte also killed in firing at Metro. Cops are in a complete state of shock!

1.32am: There is no official line of information forthcoming. Even the television channels are flashing contradicting reports. But it has been established that it is a terrorist attack

1.15am: Firing reported at Hotel Ramada, Juhu. Four policemen killed in gun fire.

1.05am: One more blast at the Taj Hotel and one at the Oberoi Hotel

1.04am: Firing continues at CST station. 1 journalist injured. Firing from police van

1.02am: Two terrorists driving a state government car is reported to be heading towards Malabar Hill where the chief minister and other dignitaries stay.

12. 57am: Terrorists are reportedly holed in Room No 360 and 361 of Taj hotel.

12.55am: 45 police personnel have entered New Taj Mahal Hotel. Entire area cordoned off. Entire police force is on the streets.

12.52am: 2 terrorists shot dead at Girgaum Chowpatty and 2 terrorists have been arrested. They were attired in army fatigues, were clean-shaven and fair

12.48am: Blast on dome of Old Taj Mahal hotel. Heavy smoke visible. 150 employees of Hindustan Lever who were having a seminar there, trapped inside the hotel. HLL Managing director suspected to be among them

12.46 am: 2 terrorists in black Honda City reportedly firing randomly

12.41am: Firing reported from outside Maharashtra assembly! Stations evacuated. Police sealed a suspicious boat at Mazagaon Dock - an extremely sensitive area.

12.40am: Terrorists reported to have escaped in a police van from Cama Hospital!! This is the height!

12.37am: 100 reported injured. CST station (outstation) littered with blood. Two terrorists have escaped from Cama hospital.

12.30 am: Terrorists seize police van, open fire randomly at Metro junction, drive to Marine Drive
12:15 am: Firing resumes at Taj, Trident Hotel

11:30 pm: Petrol pump near Metro Jn blown up

11:10 pm: Firing at Napeansea Road

11pm: Another blast at Dongri

11:00 pm: Blast in taxi at Vile Parle

10: 50 pm: Firing at Metro junction

10:50 pm: Firing near Azad Maidan police station

10:50 pm: Firing resumes inside CST station

10:40 pm: Attackers move towards Cama Hospital and continue firing


10: 35 pm: Firing at Azad Maidan police station

10:30 pm: Firing at BMC HQ (gate no 2)

9:45 pm: Firing inside CST station for half an hour

9:40 pm: Firing at Nariman Pt, behind Taj Hotel

9:30 pm: Firing outside Leopold Cafe at Colaba

[Aashish]

Again bomb blast in Mumbai on Thursday in Borivali near national park. As last night's terror incidents spread a sense of panic and fear in the metropolis, schools and colleges were ordered closed and the Bombay Stock Exchange will not function today.

News channel said that all Terrorists are from pakistan. They come here for destroy mumbai. One of them talk with one news channel and told that he is from Hyderabad but from his tone anyone can tell he is from pakistan. They came in mumbai via sea transport as per news channel.

[Users]

I can't understand how terrorist comes with AK 47 and with Bomb in Mumbai...?

On railway station and on road there is police security how they entered in city ?

[ashisharya]

Atually the bomb blast in national par is a wrng news... A BEST bus did burn.. But not because of any bomb blast.. It was just a fire caused by a leakin fuel tank..and it exploded causing fire

Situation is really sensitive but let us not panic and spread news unconfirmed..
Please see the videos at

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioNEo8ZyG5A
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sop16CbUX68

[ashisharya]

Hi Guys,

The Bomb blast at borivali is a hoax. It was a private bus that got burned because of a short circuit. I was waiting for my office bus. That bus came after 5 min and parked near the police chowki near national park. After 2 min smoke started coming out of the bus. I did capture the even on my cellphone.

Please guys don't panic.... It took me 3 hrs to reach office today when it normally takes 45 minutes.

If someone want to see the video.... contact me

Regards
Ashish

[Fastrohit]

Today, Mumbai, the commercial and entertainment centre of India is Under Attack by some Terrorists. Why do they take such action to destroy their own humanity? Are not they a living being like others are? Just for some money or incase if they are from a poor class of society who cannot feed their family with their wants, do they have to take such alternatives?

Why there are people who misguide others for their own benefits?

What steps should be taken for this moral insanity?

[Gajpal]

Fifteen people have been injured (which includes a tourist) in seven separate instances of firing at CST station, Colaba (near Taj Mahal hotel), Vile Parle, and Nariman Pt. According to reports, it was an attempt to take over the Taj Mahal hotel, and latest reports indicate that all the occupants of Taj Mahal hotel have been bundled into three rooms and are safe.

Two terrorists are still inside Taj Mahal hotel, and paramilitary forces have entered the building. The lobby of the hotel is full of blood stains.

Latest reports indicate that one more blast has been reported at Vile Parle.

Office-goers in all these three areas have been stuck in their offices as the police has asked companies to shut their gates. Says Jasleen Kaur Gupta, who works with The Times of India, "We have been locked inside our offices and can hear huge bullet shots and even loud noises that sound like bomb blasts. We are very scared."

First gun shots were heard around 9.15 pm. Latest reports indicate Leopold Cafe has been vacated.

Unconfirmed reports indicate two groups as being involved in the fracas. All these three areas are deserted. Cars were seen backing off hastily, and people were seen running helter-skelter.

According to reports, Nigerian terrorists are suspected to be involved.

There is also news that there has been a blast in a Colaba building. Police and paramilitary forces have arrived on the scene.

No official comment has been forthcoming.

[Unwin]

HUNTING FOR KUBER 2302

That’s the name of the fishing trawler that investigators believe was hijacked by terrorists from Porbandar to land in Mumbai

Did the terrorists who have paralysed Mumbai for the past two days enter India from Karachi through the coast of Saurashta in Gujarat?

The Porbandar Coast Guard are investigating the disappearance of a mechanised fishing boat and five of its crew from near the Pakistan maritime border 13 days ago.

The investigating agencies are trying to find out whether this was the boat used by the terrorists to reach Mumbai.

The boat -- Kuber PBR 2302 -- belongs to a Porbandar resident, Vinod Masani, who, along with his brothers Vinod and Narsinh, are now being interrogated by the Coast Guard, the Customs and Excise Department and the Porbandar police.

The boat is fitted with high-end communication equipment, including GPRS wireless modem and a radio frequency communicator. It also has a powerful engine.

The Coast Guard officials suspect the boat could have been hijacked by the terrorists to reach Mumbai to carry out Wednesday's mayhem that left more than 130 dead and over 300 injured.

The Masanis' attempt to establish contact with the boat in the past couple of days have been unfruitful.

For years, the Masanis have been renting out their boat to a five-man group consisting of fishermen from Porbandar. They have been identified as Amarsinh Tandel, Ramesh Nanji, Parbat Prabhu, Mukesh Bandhu and Natu Nanu.

The group, according to information provided to the Coast Guard by the Masanis, usually made ten-day fishing trips.

On November 13, it was business as usual when Masani let his boat on rent to the fishing group. However, he started getting edgy when there was no sign of the boat, nor any news of the crew, for the last 13 days.

And when news reached him that the terrorists had arrived in Mumbai via Gujarat coast, he suspected his boat could have been hijacked by the militants by killing the crew.

He approached the Porbandar Coast Guard, who are investigating the matter and have asked Masani not to leave the town without informing them.

Said Masani's brother Narsinh, "We are co-operating with the authorities as we want to ensure that if our boat was misused, the perpetrators of the act should be punished."

Sudhir Chandran, the Coast Guard chief in-charge of Saurashtra region, confirmed the development. He said, "We have received a complaint of a boat that could have been hijacked by the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on Wednesday. It is too early to comment about the nature of investigation."

[Unwin]

November 27, 2008

7.50am: Commandos being airdropped on Nariman House, and quite a lot of them are storming the building from below as well. The operation has reached the final stages. Loud explosions can be heard as also gunfire.

6.47 am: More people freed at Nariman House. Residents of nearby houses evacuated. 2-3 terrorists still believed to be holed in there.

5.34am: NSG mobilising more forces from Delhi

4.16am: 125 killed, 327 injured so far.

3.05am: Gunshots have been heard at the Oberoi. The action has shifted from the Trident to the Oberoi

2am: Combing operations continue in the Taj. Army non-committal about time of operation

12;03am: Firing at Taj. NSG Director-General says there is one more terrorist still there in the Taj. Matter of time before the encounter is over. 2 terrorists on 18th floor of Oberoi. Their room has been identified.

11.02pm: Police says there are no more hostages inside Nariman House. 2-3 terrorists are still believed to be holed out there.

CM Vilasrao Deshmukh says about 20 terrorists entered the city.

Police claim all terrorists in the Taj have been shot dead, and that encounter is over.

10.45 pm: The Oberoi fire could have been caused by grenade action by army units, which is part of a routine manouever to flush out terrorists, says GOC-western command. He also mentioned that the terrorists pretended to come from Hyderabad in south India but their internal communcation revealed they spoke in Punjabi. He pointed out that indications reveal that they came from across the border.

Meanwhile, there was a blast at the Taj as well. Army sources have informed that the terrorists may be possessing rocket launchers as well. The area has been completely cordoned off.

Mumbai city, meanwhile, was peaceful and normal. Transport services were working, and though people were cautious, they were going about their jobs.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has arrived in Mumbai and is currently visiting the various hospitals to meet the injured. BJP leader L K Advani is also in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, an unconfirmed report says the Navy has apprehended a Turkish vessel that had traces of the ammunition used in the Mumbai blasts. Several documents have also been found in the vessel.

Gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch, the New Yorkbased group said. This group is based in the Nariman House near the Taj, and currently a gun battle is on there.

[Aadi]

At least 93 hostages, many of them foreigners, rescued from Oberoi hotel. The group, some of whom were carrying luggage with Canadian flags on, were taken away in cars without speaking to reporters.

The group included one man dressed in Chef's uniform and a small baby.

The release on Friday came as NSG commandos were assaulting a nearby Jewish center and another hotel, searching for terrorists still holed up more than a day after a chain of attacks across India's financial center by the militants left at least 130 people dead.

Earlier, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hassan Gafoor said all hostages inside the Taj hotel have been evacuated but refused to comment on whether the terrorists inside the hotel have been killed.

Regarding terrorists holed up in the Oberoi hotel and Nariman House, Gafoor said NSG commandos are leading the operation and the situation will be brought under control soon.

Gafoor said least 12 terrorists had come to Mumbai from Gujarat.

One NSG commando seriously injured in Taj Hotel, says Mumbai Police Commissioner Hassan Gafoor.

At Oberoi, no gun shots or explosions were heard since late last night as the security forces launched room-to-room searches.

One NSG commando was seriously injured in Taj's eighth floor during the operations, Commissioner of Police Hassan Gafoor told PTI.

"The operations at Taj and Oberoi are in the final stages," he said.

Three terrorists, including a Pakistani national, were arrested by the security forces from the Taj hotel last night. The Pakistani national was identified as Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot in Multan, officials said.

The suspected militants belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba, they said.

Gafoor said that all hostages inside the Taj hotel have been evacuated and search operations were continuing to flush out the remaining terrorists.

NSG commando airdropped from chopper atop Nariman House in Mumbai.

Dutt said two terrorists were holed up in the 8th floor of the Oberoi hotel while in the Trident section the combing operation has been completed.

"As far as Trident is concerned, we have been able to completely clean up and we do not have any report of any terrorist being holed up over there.

"As far as Oberoi is concerned, yes, we have engaged two terrorists on the 8th floor," he said.

Late in the night, there was a major fire in Trident where about 200 people have been trapped and terrorists exploded grenades that set the roof ablaze amid exchange of gunfire.

There were reports that about 30 to 35 hotel guests were safely evacuated.

Among the dead were six foreigners, 14 police personnel, a home guard jawan and 104 members of the public including several staff of the two hotels. Of the 327 injured, police personnel accounted for 26 and foreigners seven.

Source : Times

[ashisharya]

1 More video. Delayed because of problem in youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vVq0brk_9Y