Loading

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Night of Terror ... and not yet over: Mumbai 11/26

Most readers would be aware of how terrorists have held Mumbai hostage since 9:30 p.m. on the 26th of November ... and right up to now ... as they continue to shoot and terrorise innocent people at more than one location ...I am too shocked to write coherently for now, but suffice to say that this is the worst act of terrorism for India ... ever.

Writing this on the evening of the 27th: the siege at Taj and Oberoi (Trident) hotels and at Nariman House continues. So far, over 100 people have died, including 6 foreigners and 14 policemen (which includes 3 decorated policemen - Chief of ATS Hemant Karkare, DIG of ATS Kamte and Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar). At the time of writing this, I have learnt that these are terrorists who came by boat from Porbunder in Gujarat. They have been hoarding large numbers of AK 47 machine guns and hand grenades for over 2-3 weeks inside the two hotels. When the attacks started, they created many areas of confusion by having bombs explode inside taxis in places as far off as Vile Parle, Dockyard Road, Colaba Market, Napean Sea road etc. This was then followed by attacks at the CST railway station, and then, the three locations that I have listed at the beginning of this paragraph.

I was up, watching TV, till 3.00 a.m. Then, I have cued in again at about 7 a.m. Through the night, shooting, fires and throwing of grenades have continued in and around Taj Palace, Hotel Trident and Nariman Building. There were over 400 people inside the Taj, but they have mostly all been removed to safety by the time I write this (it is 3.00 p.m. GMT at present). At the Trident, there are still over a 100 people trapped inside their rooms. At Nariman Building, there is a family of 7 Israelis - which stay inside. There are 3-4 terrorists inside Taj, 2-3 inside the Trident and over 6-9 of them in the Israeli-occupied building. 5 terrorists have been shot dead since yesterday night and over 11 have been arrested. More later ...

No comments: