Scarred Taj Mahal Hotel stands tall after gunbattle

 

New Delhi, November 29, 2008
India Govt.in

Scarred by the 60-hour gun battle, the majestic Taj Mahal Hotel stood tall amid remains of the encounter which saw several of its 529 rooms set afire by terrorists.

The last nest of terrorist resistance was captured by the elite National Security Guards (NSG) in a final assault which ended at around 8:30 a.m on Saturday.

"The commandos killed three terrorists after intense gun-battle inside the hotel,” NSG Director General J K Dutt said.

"There was lot of shooting. Grenades were lobbed and explosives were used by the terrorists," he added.

An AK-47 rifle was also recovered from them.

Dutt said the "operation" to secure the 100-year-old heritage hotel in Colaba area completely was still in progress and NSG was undertaking the combing operation.

"We cannot say the operation is over till we check the hotel. Each floor, each room will be checked" to ensure that no more terrorist is hiding in the hotel or no explosives are hidden there, the NSG chief said.

Smoke billowed from some windows on the first floor of the 105-year-old heritage hotel opposite the Gateway of India where NSG commandos were busy combing the hotel rooms in a bid to sanitise the building.

The pavement outside the hotel was smeared with blood and shards of glass and flames were seen from some windows as commandos rummaged through the debris.

Fire fighters poured water to douse the flames on the lower floors of the six-storey heritage hotel as Tata Group's Indian Hotels Vice Chairman R K Krishna Kumar watched the proceedings from a distance.

The piazza opposite the sea-front hotel was witness to a flurry of activity of media persons, most of who had camped there for over 60 hours giving a blow-by-blow account of one of the longest siege witnessed by the country.

Terrorists, who supposedly came in rubber boats, had remained holed up in the hotel since Wednesday night killing guests and spreading terror.

Commandos found a bagful of dry fruits, grenades, assault rifles and several rounds of ammunition from the site