Terror strikes Mumbai

The Taj Mahal hotel the famous landmark near the Gateway of India , Mumbai was witness to a deadly terrorist attack on the 26th of November 2008 . The other places which was also under attack were The Trident & Oberoi Hotels in South Mumbai , Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Nariman house to name a few.

The well planned attack had all the ingredients of a Hollywood movie. The terrorists had sneaked in to Mumbai through the sea and landed on the seafront at Mumbai using a rubber dingy . They were armed with grenades , Ak47's , satellite phones and other advanced GPS devices . Their motive was to create mayhem in the city and to kill innocent people of both Indian and foreign origin . They had spread across the city of Mumbai targeting different landmarks . They went on a firing spree and killed innocent people and among them were some top police officers . Some of the terrorists got killed in the crossfire and one got captured live .

The action then shifted to the Taj Mahal , Trident & Oberoi hotels and the Nariman House where the other terrorists were holed up . They went on a firing spree within the hotel killing the guests and also held some as hostages . The commandos got into action to flush the terrorists from all three locations taking utmost care to avoid co-lateral damage to the heritage buildings and the hostages . We had all the news channels covering the saga minute by minute . The media personalities were armed with their microphones and cameras and trying to outdo each other with the live coverage . A lot of us were glued to our television sets trying to get updates on the battle between the commandos and the terrorists .

We could hear the occasional blasts and also the rapid gun fire in the background as the cameras were shifting focus from one place to another . We could see more enforcements coming in to ensure that there was no escape route for the terrorists from the three buildings . We had the army ,the naval marine commandos , the Maharashtra police and the rapid action force providing different tiers of support to the National Security guard commandos who were in charge of the flush out . The fire force was busy putting off the occasional fire which was spreading out on some parts of the building and was also rescuing people from the hotel through the windows of the Taj Mahal Hotel.

The hotels were under seige by the terrorists for more than fifty hours before the attackers were gunned down by our elite commandos from the National Security guards. The attack had claimed more than 200 lives across the city . Investigations reveal that the terrorists are of Pakistani's origin and had intensive training in arms and other ammunition's .

The country salutes all the brave commandos and policemen who gave up their lives fighting the terrorists and our heartfelt condolences to all who lost their beloved ones in the gruesome attack.