They realised that the Portuguese were better prepared to defend Daman than Dadra and Nagar Haveli. If reinforcements from Daman were to reach Silvassa, there was no chance of defeating the Portuguese. They decided that cutting Daman's communication lines would have to be their top priority before attacking Silvassa. A fascinating excerpt from Neelesh Kulkarni's new book, Uprising-The Liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Highly explosive devices and a mobile phone as trigger were used by terrorists in Wednesday's low intensity bomb blasts that rocked the city, police said Friday. Samples collected from the blast sites by a team of the National Security Guard from Delhi along with forensic experts from Kolkata have prima facie revealed that the explosives used were of most recent vintage, DIG, (police control) Nepal Das said.
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
As Mumbai gears up to welcome its beloved Lord Ganesha once again, the Balgopal Sarvajanik Sevamandal at Sewree has decided to adopt an unusual theme for this year's Ganeshotsav. The Sarvajanik Sevamandal has used the theme of the terror attacks, which rocked Mumbai in November last year, to decorate its pandal. Replicas of Hotel Taj, Hotel Trident, photographs of the slain top cops of Mumbai and the slain personnel of the National Security Guard can be seen inside the pandal
A yellow minibus carrying Nepal and Afghan security guards was hit by a suicide bomber in the Banae area, PD9 Kabul city at around 5.40 am.
It facilitates shooting around corners and over the top of walls, without exposing the person using the pistol, they said.
Launching the National Security Guard hub in Hyderabad, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said intelligence agencies have indicated a terror threat to the country's west coast, but it did not meant that there will be an imminent attack.
Inaugurating the first National Security Guards hub in Mumbai, the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday promised the people to set up all the proposed NSG hubs by the deadline of July 1.
'Even if the national security framework is to be threat-based, then the division of security threats between Pakistan and China is absurd. The two threats are one.'
The Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath this year are likely to witness a number of changes including smaller marching contingents, shorter distance for the parade and fewer spectators compared to the previous years in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
The chief of the National Security Guards had recently warned that India could be struck by terrorists using biological weapons and with the help of women affiliates of the Al-Qaeda.
The clashes broke out this morning when protesters attending a non-cooperation programme to demand the government's resignation faced opposition from the supporters of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League activists.
Keeping up his tradition of celebrating the festival with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sir Creek near the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat's Kutch district and offered sweets to jawans.
Curfew was relaxed in three Imphal Valley districts on Tuesday and the suspension on broadband internet lifted with conditions, even as Chief Minister N Biren Singh blamed the Congress for the present crisis in Manipur and NDA MLAs called for a "mass operation" against militants responsible for the killing of six women and children. Peaceful rallies were also staged across the state, with hundreds taking to the streets with empty coffins in Churachandpur district, demanding justice for those killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Jiribam, and members of various civil society organisations bringing out a procession in Imphal West district to protest the reimposition of AFSPA in parts of the state.
"The army is certainly facing shortage of officers and we will see how we can combat it. But if the government needs manpower in the anti-terror operations, we will certainly provide them," Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor said, when queried about the army's manpower constraint and meeting the government demand for NSG.
The 'heroes of Mumbai' will be a major attraction at the Republic Day parade this year, with the National Security Guard sending a contingent to join other uniformed services to march on the Rajpath for the first time in its history.
The elite National Security Guard was under pressure to use gas to neutralise the heavily armed Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists during the Mumbai terror attacks last year, but the idea was shot down for fear of repeat of another Russian theatre disaster.
The cowardly act of terrorism has not dented his strength. He will continue to visit Mumbai and like always, will stay at the Oberoi-Trident.
The National Security Guard chief denied that the terrorists made any move to enter into negotiations by sending demands to the raiding commando units. "We did not received any demand from any of the terrorists," NSG Director General Jyoti Kishan Dutt said.
"The National Security Guards is here. They are carrying out a very deliberate operation. They are trained for it and are the best in the country. I have faith in them," Major General R K Hooda, General Officer Commanding, Maharashtra area, told reporters outside the hotel
Suspense over the identity of the leader of a National Security Guards (NSG) team which had shot dead a terrorist at Hotel Oberoi on November 26 last year got over with NSG informing police on Wednesday that he was Lt Col R K Sharma.
The country could ill-afford such a situation where innocents are made to pay a price because an incompetent police wants to keep the record books filled. It is time now to ask sharp questions. And time has come for the investigating agencies to answer them. Quickly.
According to the police, these villages have never seen unfurling or hoisting of the national flag since 1947, but that will change when its residents will join the rest of the country in celebrating Republic Day, which commemorates the day when the Constitution came into effect in 1950.
India will kickstart on Tuesday a two-day multi-agency military exercise covering the country's 7,516 km-long coastline and exclusive economic zone with the twin aim of checking the preparedness of various agencies to deal with any eventualities and bolster overall maritime security, officials said.
The four National Security Guard hubs announced in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror strikes last year will be operational by June 30.
Surjan Singh Bhandari passed away at 4.25am, his brother Commandant Uttam Singh told PTI in Ahmedabad.
However, the Maldives government has no intention of removing the doctors from India at Senahiya, a media report said.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said that the country will have more National Security Guard hubs in the future to tackle the threat of terrorism. The home minister read out a statement to media persons, following his visit to the anti-terrorist hub established by the army in Bengaluru.
Punjab Director General of Police N P S Aulakh has been appointed as the new chief of the elite National Security Guards and will assume charge on March 1. Aulakh, a 1972-batch officer of the Indian Police Service, will replace J K Dutta who is retiring on Saturday, official sources said on Friday. He was appointed the Punjab DGP in March 2007 after the formation of Shiromani Akali Dal Bharatiya Janata Party combine government in the state. Aulakh is to retire in August 2010
The Centre will provide a close proximity cover of elite "Black Cat" commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the wake of threat perception from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Those arrested on Thursday included Muslims as well as Hindus.
An account of an injured NSG commando at the Taj.
It is hard for the lay observer to understand why it should take 60 hours for crack commandos of the National Security Guard to clear a hotel of four attackers.
One of the commandos, who was part of the action in Taj Palace hotel, described to rediff.com how the drama unfolded and the ordeal they underwent to flush out the terrorists who had held the entire city ransom.
A two-year-old Israeli boy, who was waiting for two days to be reunited with his parents Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg on his birthday on Friday, will never see them again. The bodies of Tzvi's parents were found by the Commandos of the National Security Guards who stormed the Nariman House in south Mumbai after killing the two holed-up terrorists. Moshe Tzvi had been taken out by his nanny on Thursday when the terrorists stormed into the Nariman House.
"At 0943 Hours, an IL-76 of the IAF air-lifted 124 of the troops to Mumbai. The operational commanders on ground felt that more troops would be required to complete the operation," a Defence Ministry source told PTI in New Delhi on Friday.
An ATS official and an NSG commando who came outside the Taj Mahal hotel for a breather told rediff.com that it is a do or die situation inside the hotel. "We have been firing, searching and retreating for a while as the terrorists go back into hiding," they said. "We have no option but to either kill them or capture them. The manner in which the terrorists are holding fort and retaliating, makes it clear that they are here only for destruction and nothing else."
The National Security Guard, which is engaged in a gun battle with the terrorists at Taj Hotel in Mumbai, said all but one terrorists were killed in the encounter and hoped to wrap up the flush-out operation at the Trident-Oberoi hotel and Nariman House very soon."There is one terrorist in the Taj Hotel. He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," Director General of NSG J K Dutt said.
At least 40 to 50 hostages are holed up in one room by six to eight terrorists in the topmost floors of the Taj Mahal Hotel, said a National Security Guards commando involved in the operation. There are 170-odd NSG commandoes involved in the flushing-out operation, said the commando who had stepped out for a breather
