Mumbai Massacre

250 hurt; firing at cst station; hospital hit

taj, oberoi attacked; guests held hostage

ATS chief among dead; SOS to army, Navy, NSG

By The Asian Age correspondents
Mumbai

Nov. 26: After a brief lull, Mumbai was again blown to shreds with four blasts ripping through Santa Cruz, Vile Parle, Sandhurst Road and Nariman Point, leaving over 80 dead and over 250 injured. Apart from the blasts, terrorists have also opened fire at four places including Marine Drive, Nariman Point, Colaba and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). According to eyewitnesses at Colaba, some people toting assault rifles opened fire in Leopold Restaurant that was packed to the rafters with diners, who were mostly foreign nationals. The modus operandi of the attackers was to lob grenades before opening fire at all the spots.
“There was a blast that was followed by gunfire,” said a man who ran a stall outside the restaurant. “As soon as we heard the blast, we immediately dropped to the floor and hence, were not able to see the people who fired,” he added.
A similar incident occurred outside the Oberoi Hotel at Nariman Point, where many people who were strolling outside the hotel were caught in the indiscriminate firing. Many of those injured were guests at the hotel, while others were seaside revellers.
A social worker at the St George’s Hospital at Fort said that ever since 10.15 pm, the number of people being wheeled in had almost reached 200 and this figure included both injured and dead people.
Eyewitnesses at CST said that as soon as the train pulled into Platform 4, they heard shots being fired and did not leave the compartment till the sounds subsided.
A policeman, in civil clothes, reportedly got shot even as he was asking people to run for cover from the pavement outside Cama and Albless hospital as sporadic firing was heard in the area.
At approximately 11.00 pm, two blasts were reported at the Dockyard Station and Vile Parle. The intensity of the blasts and the number of people injured was not known.
There were also unconfirmed reports of two blasts at Napeansea Road.
The state government declared that it was a terror attack even as the police and army personnel swung into action and reached the spots where the firing took place. Mr K.P. Raghuvanshi, additional DG (railways) said, “It is too early to say anything at the moment, but we suspect it was a terror attack.” Deputy chief minister R.R. Patil wanted to visit Colaba after hearing news of the firing at the Taj Mahal Hotel and Leopold Restaurant, but police officials advised the minister against it, as firing was still on and the police did not want to take a risk. However, the minister later reached Colaba police station and had a discussion with senior police officials about the situation in hand.
Mr Shakeel Ahmed, the Union Minister of State for Home, who is also a Congress spokesperson said, “There is information about firing at five places. We also have information that encounters are happening at two places. But at the moment we cannot say anything for sure. The police is taking necessary action. We will know about the attackers only after the police overpower them or eliminate them. So far the state government has not requested for any help from the Centre. If we receive any request from the state, we will provide whatever help is needed.”
Meanwhile, minister for state, health Suresh Shetty stated that directors and superintendents of major hospitals in the city have been informed to stay on duty and provide necessary medical assistance to the injured. “There is no shortage of medical facilities to take care of the victims of
the terror attack. The state is providing all the assistance,” said Mr Shetty.
The CM rushed from Kerala and said that if necessary even the Army would be called, but for the time being the police is taking care of the situation.
The chief secretary Johny Joseph said that more than 100 people have been injured. Meanwhile The navy commandos called Marcos rushed to Taj and managed to free over 250 hostages.



By our correspondents
Mumbai

Nov. 26: Two five-star hotels, the Oberoi and Taj Mahal are under siege at the time of going to print and gunmen are reported to have held occupants hostage. Reports say that 10 gunmen are holed up inside both the hotels and a blast occurred in the Taj at 12.15 am.
According to eyewitnesses, the two alleged terrorists are in their mid-twenties and they walked down from Leopold Restaurant in Colaba carrying AK-47 rifles and entered the Taj Mahal hotel. “On the way to the Taj, the terrorists who were unmasked were firing all the way to the hotel,” said eye witness.
At around 11.19 pm, there were sounds of two explosions. However, it was not clear whether it was due to the grenades that were thrown into the hotel. According to a doctor at the hotel, 5 people who were taken out of the hotel at that time, three were confirmed dead.
At around 10 pm, firing began both inside and outside the Taj Hotel. According to eyewitness Pranav Arora who saw and heard sparks and shots being fired outside the hotel, there was a lot of commotion at the entrance to the hotel and he saw a woman lying there for more that 15 to 20 minutes.
Three BDDS squads and special task force teams are fighting the terrorists inside the hotel, at the time of going to print. It is believed that there are live bombs in the hotel and one of the bombs was taken out to be diffused by the police.
Meanwhile, at the Oberoi Hotel, at around midnight, a team of commandos and fire engines arrived at the scene. The fire engines, at the time of going to press were still working at dousing the flames emanating from the lobby of the hotel, due to constant explosions.

By our correspondents
Mumbai

Nov. 26: Even as the police was reeling under the shock of some armed men firing indiscriminately into the crowds across the length and breadth of the Colaba tip of Mumbai came reports of blasts in different parts of the city.
The number of the blasts remained inconclusive with the Prime Minister’s office citing five blasts but Mumbai police saying there were just four blasts.
The Police said blasts took place in taxis at Vile Parle and Dockyard, one near CST station and a series of blasts at Oberoi hotel where the lobby was on fire for some period from the blasts.

Chhatrapati
shivaji terminus
The area around Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) erupted into gunfire, when some men, armed with AK-47s and hand grenades stormed into CST and fired indiscriminately. A railway police officer said that at least 10 were dead and 30 injured in the firing. There were two blasts at CST, one at the corner of the subway near the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) building and one inside the station.
According to eyewitnesses, the men first moved into the area where the mainline trains depart and started firing alarming several Railway Protection Force (RPF) and railway police. At CST, shots were first heard at around 9.45 pm. On hearing gunshots, people began to run for cover and police officers moved in quickly. At the time of going to press, there was no official figure of the casualties but two terrorists were reportedly hauled up in the station. The police instructed people at the station, including The Asian Age’s Rajesh Jadhav, to stay low and lie down on the road between CST and the BMC building. They were taken to safety after a few minutes. Few minutes later, at approximately 10 pm, a hand grenade exploded near platform 15 (for outstation trains) of the station, causing people to flee.
“It was horrible. I had just missed the 9.51 pm Belapur local and was waiting for the Panvel train when I saw people rushing out of the mainline section of the station. We could clearly hear the gunshots. I don’t know how many have died but I saw some people being taken out by fellow passengers and the police,” said a panic-stricken Munnalal Kesarwani (47), a resident of Vashi who owns a shop on Fashion Street.
Eyewitnesses say that they saw five to six grenades explode, including two outside the station. Further, they said that several people were randomly fired at, in all directions.
Phalanxes of police officers were posted at each entry point to the station.

Vile Parle
A massive explosion inside a taxi driving towards Andheri near the Golden Swan Hotel on the Western Express Highway (WEH) at Vile Parle killed the three passengers including the driver instantly. The taxi no. MH-01-G-7792 split into two and most of its metallic parts and shrapnel fell almost 100 metres away.
The police said it is difficult to identify the number of the vehicle and from the hit the taxi received, the blast seemed suspicious. “The impact of a CNG cylinder would be far smaller than what we witnessed at Vile Parle,” said an officer. A Vile Parle resident Santosh Jadhav said that the impact of the explosion was such that it destroyed the tube lights of his house. Mr Arvind Mahajani, DCP, Zone 10, said, “The bodies have been sent to he forensic department to ascertain the type of explosives used.”

n Dockyard Road
Such was the extent of fraught nerves in the city that even a blast at Dockyard Road station due to the explosion of a gas cylinder in a taxi outside the station, seemed to be a terror attack. According to sources, the blast occurred at about 10.45 pm in which some bystanders were injured. No deaths have been reported.
However, the police is still not sure about the events at Dockyard because though it looked like a car blast, the injuries to hutments residing on the roadside and the damage to a truck parked nearby was extensive. It is unknown whether the cylinder blast was done on purpose or if it was just a one-off incident. An eyewitness said that people started running helter-skelter as soon as the blast occurred, the situation calmed down only when people learnt that the blast had occurred in the taxi.
There were three other blasts, one in Vile Parle, two at CST.

By our correspondentsMumbai
Nov. 26: Midnight started for the Mumbai police with the heartbreaking news that terrorists’ bullets had felled around seven of its policemen including senior officers of the Indian Police Services. Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, additional commissioner of police, central region, Ashok Kamte, and encounter specialist, Vijay Salaskar were killed in a hail of bullets fired by the assailants.Karkare sustained bullet injuries on his chest near Cama Hospital, while Kamte and Salaskar were shot near Metro Cinema. They were declared dead soon after they were rushed to the hospital. There were reports of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway police officer Shinde being killed in the firing at CST. The Mumbai police stunned by the turn of events late Wednesday evening started hitting back by midnight with reports of two terrorists being shot down and four apprehended by around 1 am. Two terrorists were killed near Girgaum Chowpatty, state CID commissioner D. Sivanandan confirmed. The two terrorists were speeding in a Skoda car when the police asked them to stop. The persons in the car did not do so upon which the police started firing, killing both the men inside. The police found two AK-47s and two revolvers in the car. Meanwhile there were reports of two terrorists being nabbed in Tardeo nearby. In another case, two terrorists fled away with a police van from the road near Metro Cinema. The van had still not been found till 1.30 am and the police soon declared alerted policemen to check even police vehicles on patrol. However, the police has been told to not approach these vans till their colleagues inside the van confirm their identity.Even as the Mumbai police was battling it out, 200 commandos from the National Security Guards and other crack units were on a flight to Mumbai.Additional commissioner of police, central region, Sadanand Date was grievously injured in the terror attack.

An unknown terror outfit identifying itself as Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the terror-raid on the city. In an email sent to various media houses, the outfit stated that the attack was revenge for the oppression of Muslims across the country.

Firings at:
n Taj Mahal
n Oberoi
n Leopold
n CST
n Metro Cinema
n Wadi Bandar
n Outside Vidhan Sabha
Blasts at:
n CST
n Vile Parle
n Dockyard Road station