More than 35 hours after the terrorists struck, there was a lull in Mumbai on Friday as National Security Guard commandos and security personnel closed in on Nariman House for a final assault and most of the residents chose to stay indoors.
"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
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.
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.
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
According to reports, two boats are from Okha and three from Porbander.
With about 1,000 acres of land already identified on the outskirts of the city, work on setting up the regional centre of National Security Guards in Mumbai will start in two to three months, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has said."The work on setting up the regional centre of NSG would begin in two to three months as about 1,000 acres of land on the outskirts of the city has already been identified," Chavan said. The State Security Guards would also be set up in three months.
The NSG will work along with the Special Investigation Team and the City Crime Branch.
The government proposes to set up a federal investigation agency to deal with cases of terrorism and other pan-Indian crimes. This has so far not found favour with the states which legitimately fear that they will be kept out of sensitive security investigations. There has to be a co-ordinated mechanism to deal with terrorism but co-ordination needs to bring in the states, says Sitaram Yechury
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.
The couple, along with a Chinese, a South African and an Australian national, was rescued from the hotel by the elite National Security Guards late Thursday night.
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
India's military prowess and its cultural diversity is bound to leave the chief guest, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, spellbound.
Security has been tightened in the national capital, particularly around Rajpath and the parade route as the nation celebrates its 67th Republic Day on Tuesday.
Addressing the 23rd Raising Day celebration of National Security Guards at the training centre of NSG at Manesar, Gurgaon, Patil praised the service to the nation of dedicated NSG commandos.
The city administration is all geared up for the big day and preparations are in full swing to present the 'best face of Agra'.
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).
There is a conspiracy to get Lalu murdered, but we will give a befitting reply to the centre, said Tej Pratap.
The decision for their deployment in counter-terror operations was taken by the Union Home Ministry recently and they will be put to use soon after their acclimatisation programme is over, the officials said.
The bomb, which appeared to be similar to the one which exploded inside the dargah complex on Thursday, has been defused.
It said the decision will immediately benefit approximately 7.8 lakh paramilitary personnel of the ranks of constable, head constable and assistant sub-inspector who were otherwise not eligible earlier.
'I can easily say that BJP should not have joined hands with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir. If you are totally against terrorism, then you have to be sincere in that'
Those arrested on Thursday included Muslims as well as Hindus.
Lt Colonel E K Niranjan was undertaking a mopping up and render safe procedure on the encounter spot when a blast occurred and splinters and sharpnels hit the officer fatally.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act court on Saturday awarded death sentence to three persons in the 2002 Akshardham temple terror attack case.
An Assam Rifles jawan was killed and three others were seriously injured when insurgents ambushed a paramilitary force party at Lambisa in Manipur's Ukhrul district on Saturday.
An investigating officer said that the cell-phone and remote control device recovered on Sunday would help police investigations by providing vital clues about the persons/organisations behind the blast.
Security is a worry but the Gujarat chief minister will continue is campaign ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
A day after National Security Guard Lt Col Niranjan Kumar and Garud Commando Gursewak Singh were slain in the Pathankot air base attack, their remains were brought home for the last rites. Locals, family members and politicians gathered to pay their respects to these heroes.
A grenade-dropping drone, 3D fly-on-the-wall radar to see through a 20-m-thick wall and a 'dogo robot' armed with remote pistol are some of the latest weaponry provided to the National Security Guard to undertake lethal counter-terror operations with a punch of stealth.
Delhi's power circles can expect a surprise when a not-so-known officer is appointed to head the CBI.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances