Update on Mumbai terror attack

Chief of the Anti Terrorist Squad Hemant Karkare, who has been in the news lately in connection with ongoing investigations into the Malegaon bomb blasts, is reported to be hurt in the ongoing operation. Details are awaited.
01:50 AM: Krishnakumar reports from the Juhu region that a bomb went off in a taxi that was speeding along the Western Express Highway from Vile Parle towards Andheri, killing two people and injuring two others.
"The taxi exploded and went up in flames as it sped past the traffic island under the flyover at the domestic airport," an eyewitness said on phone. "The vehicle, which was up in flames soon after it crossed the traffic signal, was on the left side. A bystander and a person in the taxi were killed.
Reports indicate that this was perhaps the night's highest-intensity blast. Krishnakumar reports that the taxi's doors were found a distance of 50 meters or more away, and body parts of the victims had been thrown even further.
01:43 AM: At least two suspected terroristswere shot dead minutes earlier at the corner of Mumbai's Chowpatty. Rediff's Vaihayasi Pande-Daniel, who is on the site, reports that the area has been cordoned off and is swarming with police officers; the Skoda is under guard and a cellphone, a jacket, and items of footwear are strewn around the vehicle.
Meanwhile at the Taj Mahal [Images] Hotel, the standoff between police, who have surrounded the hotel, and terrorists who are holed up inside, continues.
A short while ago, power went off in parts of the hotel, adding to the sense of panic and fear. Well known food critic Sabina Sahgal Saikia, who is inside the hotel, told NDTV on phone just now that the guests are terrified, and unaware of just what is happening around them. It is unclear at this point in time whether the power has been turned off by the police as they battle the terrorists.
01:27 AM: Rediff's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel calls in from the Marine Drive region to report that the approaches to the South Mumbai area have been shut down, and that sounds of firing are audible as far away as Mumbai's famed Queen's Necklace stretch, though the source of the firing is unclear.
Meanwhile, a foreign national who managed to escape from the Taj Mahal Hotel, where a state of seige currently exists, told NDTV that armed and masked gunmen were wandering around inside the hotel, looking for people with American or British passports.
The eyewitness account appears to confirm the growing belief among law enforcement circles that this latest attack is aimed directly at foreign nationals -- hence the choice of star hotels as prime targets. They further theorize that automatic weapons are being used rather than bombs in order to orchestrate such targeted mayhem.
Meanwhile, the real dangers of the situation are being exaggerated by a proliferation of rumors. One such that has been aired on a few channels including CNN suggested that firing was taking place at the JW Marriott, another five star hotel in the Juhu region of suburban Mumbai. A source in the hotel however confirmed to Rediff just now that there was no alarm at the hotel, and no incident of any kind had taken place.
12:44 AM: A gun battle is ongoing in the Taj Hotel in Colaba. Within the last ten minutes, a guest at the hotel got word out to CNN via email that a grenade had exploded within the hotel premises just then.
Additional Commissioner of Police AN Roy and other officials confirmed that some armed terrorists are holed up in the iconic hotel.
Police officials said they have no information of a hostage situation; they say guests have been sequestered in safe areas of the hotel, and the police are now engaged in flushing out the terrorists from their hiding place.
Earlier Report: Terror struck the country's financial capital late tonight as coordinate serial explosions and indiscriminate firing rocked eight areas across Mumbai including the crowded CST railway station, two five star hotels--Oberoi and Taj-- leaving 60 persons dead and over 200 injured.
Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall of CST and opened fire and threw grenades, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said. The terror strike which began at 1033 PM at Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus(CST), formerly known as the Victoria Terminus(VT), claimed 10 lives in the premises of the station alone, police said.
Three persons were killed in a bomb explosion in a taxi on Mazegaon dockyard road and an equal number were gunned down at Taj Hotel. The victim in the hotel were its employees.
The lobby of the Oberoi hotel was on fire and the hotel evacuated, eyewitnesses said.
Maharashtra DGP A N Roy said tonight's attack in "at least seven places" is a "terror strike." Sharma said 30 persons were injured in the CST incident.
Commandoes were rushed to the CST which wore a deserted look and train services suspended. Some people were injured in the firing in Oberoi hotel, and taken to a nearby hospital in police vans and ambulance.
Firing was also reported in Taj hotel. Firing was reported at Colaba, Nariman Point and near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal, formerly Victoria Terminus and it was still continuing.
Firing was also reported at Cama Hospital in south Mumbai, police said, adding that a blast was reported in a taxi under a flyover in suburban Vile Parle. A bomb went off in a taxi in Mazegaon dockyard road.
According to Ashok Sharma, Commissioner of Police , Railways, "The incident of firing and bomb blast have happened at CST in Mumbai."
He told rediff.com, "Between the platform number two and eight these terrorists are running creating havoc."
He said that they are wearing black dresses and wielding AK 47-type weapons.
Hand grenades thrown at Taj
Two hand grenades were thrown from the Taj Mahal hotel on the policemen who had cordoned off the hotel. Police were evacuating many of the people who had gone for their evening dinner or were the guests at the hotel.
Some dead bodies too were taken out from the hotel and it is not clear how many terrorists have entered the hotel.
Bomb squads have reached hotel to defuse a live bomb that was found near Taj hotel.
The situation is tense and no one is allowed to venture near the hotel. The problem that policemen are facing is that they don't know how many terrorists have entered the hotel and where they are located.
The same is the case with another five star Oberoi hotel located one kilometer away from Taj Mahal hotel where some terrorists have entered and are firing from top.
Terrorists take over police car
Terrorists took over a police car and started firing at passers-by near Metro cinema in South Mumbai. Another terrorist, in a grey vehicle, was nabbed by the police near Chowpatty. The man, who was carrying a fire arm, had been firing at passers-by.
Source http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/26-firing-in-cst-station.htm
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