Bomb blasts in Mumbai; 21 killed, 113 injured
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said at least 20 people were killed and 113 injured in the coordinated attack at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar. The blast at Opera House was the "most powerful", he said.
The explosions, which ripped through the country's financial capital, went off just few minutes apart between 6:45 and 7 pm.
"Therefore, we infer this was a coordinated attack by terrorists," Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram told reporters in New Delhi, adding that the death toll could go up.
Improvised Explosive Devices(IED) were used to trigger the blasts which coincided with the birthday of Ajmal Kasab, the lone Pakistani gunman in the 2008 Mumbai attack, sentenced to death. 166 people were killed in the Mumbai carnage.
No group claimed responsibility but Mumbai police suspects the hand of Indian Mujahideen(IM). Chavan declined to speculate on who could be behind the attack.
Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik said the blasts at Opera House and Zaveri Bazaar were of a higher intensity than the one at Dadar.
"It is a terror act. Quite obvious that some terror element is involved in the attack. Zaveri Bazaar blast exploded with use of IED kept in an abandoned umbrella. All three blasts occurred between 6.50 and 7 pm," Patnaik said.
He said the NSG hub in Mumbai has been put on standby and that the elite force's 'post-blast' team has also been sent to the financial capital of the country.
The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) team from both here and Hyderabad has been sent to Mumbai, he said.
An NIA team led by an IG rank officer will also leave for Mumbai, he said.
PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said it is clear that the attackers in the biggest strike since 26/11 wanted to "hurt as many as people as possible."
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Mumbai: Three blasts in 20 minutes
Seventeen people have been killed and over 133 are injured when three blasts ripped through Mumbai during rush hour on Wednesday evening. The three blast sites are Dadar, Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House. The Home Ministry confirmed that these blasts were an act by terrorists. Initial suspicion points to Indian Mujahideen. New Delhi and other metros are on high alert following the blasts.
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Relatives of a bomb blast victim cry outside JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday. Three bomb blasts were reported in Mumbai on Wednesday. PTI
According to sources, investigators are also in possession of the crucial footage recorded by CCTV cameras installed at Opera House and Dadar, the third blast site was Zaveri Bazar . The CCTV cameras hold the key to the probe and may help in identifying those who planted the explosive devices.
The sources said forensic experts had collected traces of ammonium nitrate, fuel, TNT and ball bearings from the blast sites which may lead to the perpetrator of the terror attack that killed 17 and injured 131.
It is the worst terror attack in India after the November 2008 strike that left 166 Indians and foreigners dead.
They said that evidence from the sites suggested that battery power was used to trigger the blasts for which at least seven improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been used.
Ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound that enhances the combustibility of explosive devices has been a favourite of terrorists. The chemical is used in an agricultural fertiliser.
Mixed with fuel, like diesel, petrol or kerosene, and powered with booster charge and detonator, the cocktail turns into a bulk explosive. Pieces of metals, which can be nails or ball bearings, are added for shrapnel effect.
When the device is detonated, the metal pieces act like missiles.
Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters in Delhi that the IEDs used in the blasts were "not crude" and indicated that they were prepared with "some level of sophistication".
Though the ammonium nitrate used in the explosions has been confirmed by officials, investigators said they faced difficulty in ascertaining the exact composition as rains had washed away the evidence.
Rakesh Maria, the chief of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), said in Mumbai that ammonium nitrate was used in the explosions but to know the real composition of the bombs would take "little longer". He said "prima facie it appears a timer device" was used to trigger the blasts but refused to say it with certainty.
Home ministry officials in New Delhi said an electric circuit was recovered from a dead person's body. "But it cannot be said for sure that the person was a suicide bomber. He may have been very close to the bomb," Secretary for Internal Security U.K. Bansal told reporters.
The key to the identification of bomb planters remains in the "voluminous" CCTV footage collected from the blast sites. However, even this is proving to be a little difficult. The sources said the ATS was trying to retrieve the footages recorded by not so high resolution cameras.
The visuals need some cleaning because the footage is fuzzy due rains and bad light on Wednesday evening when the blasts were triggered.
Government also said "as of now" it has no ground to link yesterday's terror with any elements across the border.
"The NSG DG has informed that a body with circuit has been found from one of the sites. The body was found near the explosion site. We are not ruling out anything," Union Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters here..
Singh was replying to a question about the possibility of the involvement of a suicide bomber in yesterday's blasts as the body was found with a circuit near one of the blast sites. "The investigation is still on," he said.
Hours later, Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry U K Bansal said there could be several reasons of finding circuit in the body of one of the victims.
"One of the possibilities is that the person concerned might have been standing near the bomb and as a result some parts of the bomb imbibed it (body). There is another possibility that it could be planted on his body. But as of now we are not in a position to tell anything," he said.
Asked whether the body has been identified, he said since some of the bodies were found beyond recognition, Mumbai police was trying to identify them.
On the possibility of cross border linkages with yesterday's blasts, Bansal said "As of now there is no ground to believe that there is any link of anyone from across the border".
While Indian investigators begin to sift through the wreckage of three terrorist bombings in Mumbai, suspicions have immediately turned to Pakistan-connected militant groups, 'ProPublica' said.
"Whatever the investigation uncovers -- and it's still very early -- one thing is clear: Those groups still operate despite international pressure on Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks of nearly three years ago," said the report headlined 'Mumbai Attacks Renew Questions About Pakistan's Crackdown on Militants.'
It said that yesterday's "coordinated rush-hour explosions" were smaller and less sophisticated than the "meticulously planned strike on Mumbai in November 2008."
The latest attack "involved bombs planted in strategic locations, a recurring tactic used by Indian affiliates of Lashkar in recent years."
In the report, ProPublica's investigative journalist Sebastian Rotella said that during the past week, Pakistani leaders have criticised the Obama administration for ... withholding 800 million dollars in military aid."
The latest Mumbai attacks "could also turn out to be part of that shadow-conflict. The ISI uses militant groups as a weapon to strengthen its position in the dangerous triangle of Pakistani relations with the United States and India," the report said.
The Chicago Tribune said the latest Mumbai assault "appears to have been carried out by associates of two Chicago terrorists (David Headley and Tahawwur Rana) convicted last month.
"While no group has claimed responsibility, and the Indian government has not blamed anyone, Wednesday's attack has all the markings of Lashkar-e-Taiba, radical Pakistani terrorists who employed a pair of Chicago men as scouts and planners," it said.
The report said the "coordinated explosions" in the jewellery and financial districts of Mumbai are "precisely the kinds of attacks that David Coleman Headley helped to plot for Pakistani terrorists. This latest assault was shorter, smaller and more precise, but no less unnerving."
A report in the online edition of the Los Angeles Times said that in the aftermath of the Mumbai explosions, "... some suspicions focused on Pakistan-based militant groups."
At least 17 people were killed in the terror attacks in Mumbai's Dadar market area, Jhaveri Bazaar and Opera House neighbourhood.
LIVE - Mumbai, one day later
Catch the live news breaks, commentary & videos on the Mumbai serial blast attack
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19:50: Perpetrators of the blasts shall be subject to the rule of law that they have sought to subvert, says PM
19:45: I understand the shock and outrage of the people of Mumbai, I share their pain, anguish and anger: PM
19:40: Govt will do everything to prevent such attacks in the future, says PM
19:35: PM holds security review meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Chavan
19:30: PM Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi reach Mumbai NSA Shiv Shankar Menon accompanying PM and Sonia.
17:50: Too early to say if it was human bomb or not, says ATS chief Rakesh Maria
17:45: No organisation has claimed responsibility, says Home Minister
17:40: No point in talking to Pakistan if it does not dismantle terror network
17:35: Maximum casualities at Opera House; 10 killed and 73 injured in the blast there
17:30: 1kg ammonium nitrate used in Opera House blast
17:25: 7 dead, 50 injured in the blast at Zaveri Bazaar
17: 20: ATS and Crime Branch have formed joint teams to investigate the terrorist attack, says ATS chief Rakesh Maria
17:15: Maharashtra ATS takes over Mumbai serial blasts case.
17:10: 17 dead, 133 injured in Mumbai serial blasts, ATS chief Rakesh Maria said. 10 people injured in Dadar
17:05: Congress asks Opposition not to politicise the issue
17:00: Mumbai police addresses the media, says maximum casualities at Opera House
16:55: As of now, no ground to believe that Mumbai blasts have any across-the- border link, says Secretary, Internal Security
16:50: Adopt zero tolerance approach towards terror: Advani
16:45: Amitabh Bachchan takes a dig at media over blasts coverage
16:40: There is a possibility of human bomb being used in Mumbai serial blasts
16:35: Indian Mujahideen suspects arrested few days are being questioned in relation to Mumbai serial blasts
16:30: Forensic results with Mumbai police. Most bodies have been identified, says Internal Security secretary
16:25: No specific leads against any organisation, says UK Bansal
16:20: The government admitted that there was no credible intelligence input and said that the probe into the serial blasts will cover every terror group.
16:15: The government has not ruled out the possibility of the involvement of a suicide bomber in Mumbai serial blasts.
16:10: The government has not ruled out the possibility of the involvement of a suicide bomber in Mumbai serial blasts, Home Secretary R K Singh said
16:05: Maharashtra government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 to those injured
16:00: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to accompany PM Manmohan Singh on his visit to Mumbai
15.08 pm: Officials within the PMO reveal that the Prime Minister will reach Mumbai later today. Refusing to divulge the time of arrival, they indicated he would be visiting victims at atleast one hospital.
14.36: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announces ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased in Mumbai blasts.
14.17: Advani demands ISI be declared a "terrorist organisation"; suggests government rethink strategy on Pakistan and terror
14.16: LK Advani: We should not talk to Pakistan until that country dismantles the infrastructure of terror on its soil
14.15: Advani says "Mumbai favourite target", recounts Vajpayee govt's policies against terror from Pakistan
14.12: Advani says "zero tolerance against terror needed"
14.10: Advani addresses press conference in Mumbai, says the attacks prove government's "policy failure"
13.17 pm: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna condemns the blasts in Mumbai. Cabinet also offers condolences to blast victims.
12.53 pm: Maharashtra CM says crucial video footage has been recovered from the blast sites and being analysed
12.44 pm: Talking to the media, Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan says, "Centre has shared all intelligence inputs regarding blasts with the state police."
12.38 pm: Home Minister expected to return to New Delhi by 2pm. He will then meet the Prime Minister and brief him
12.28 pm: Electric circuit found on one dead in terror attack. The information has been shared with authorities, Hospital dean T.P. Lahane said. The electric circuit, could have been used to trigger one of the blasts.
12.22 pm: Home Secretary, Director of the IB and Director-General of the NSG meet the Cabinet Secretary in New Delhi; briefs him on situation
12.04 pm: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi says "It is very difficult to stop any single terrorist attack. We must stop 100 percent attack."
Gandhi added that the response of the government was prompt and "in a quite organised fashion"
11.46 am: Senior BJP leader LK Advani visits the Opera House blast site
11.43 am: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweets: "Can we have a little more of facts & a little less of rumours about who is behind the attack. If we don't know as yet, let's say we don't know. And yes, while I'm at it this, whole Mumbai Spirit thing is a bit tiresome now because let's face it no one gave them a bloody choice anyway."
10.42: HM's joint press conference with Maharashtra CM Chavan ends
10.37: HM requests media not to put out stories based on speculation; stresses need to maintain harmony;
promises to brief the media every two hours or earlier
10.36: HM says attack not on tourists but on the "prosperity of India"
10.31: HM puts death toll at 18; 131 injured admitted in 13 hospitals; 28 discharged
10.17: HM says "Pak & Afghanistan epicentre of terror"
10.15: Mah declares ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured
10.07: HM does not rule out attack as an attempt to derail Indo-Pak talks
Indo-Pak foreign minister level talks scheduled for July 26 this month.
10.00: HM says Ammonium Nitrate was used for the blasts through a trigger mechanism
9.59: HM says "all groups hostile to India are under the radar"
9.55: HM says "not singling out any particular group, all leads will be followed"
9.53 am: Home Minister promises regular bulletins and updates; says will "share information every two hours"
P Chidamabaram: Blast was not triggered by a remote control device
09.40 am: P Chidambaram: Unfortunate that intelligence agencies had no prior inputs on the attacks
09.33 am: Home Minister P Chidambaram addresses the media; reiterates it was a 'coordinated terror attack'
Latest statistics: 18 deaths confirmed, 131 injured -- 23 of them critical
09.31: NIA, ATS and forensic officials at blast sites; officials fear rains may have washed away evidence
9.20: In Washington, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton condemns the attack and says she would be travelling to India next week as scheduled, to reaffirm the US' "commitment to the shared struggle against terrorism"
09.16: Britain condemns attacks as "deplorable acts of terrorism". "The UK stands firmly with India in the face of such atrocities," Foreign Secretary William Hague says in a statement
9.10 am: Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan meets Home Minister P Chidambaram, briefs him on the latest casualty figures and leads in investigation. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also present
9.05: Reports hint at IM hand pointing to LeT outfit's tendency to strike on the 13th and 26th day of the month. At least five attacks, thought to be carried out by IM in the past three years, have happened either on 13th or 26th. Something in this, or mere coincidence?
8.30 am: Home Minister P Chidambaram and Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan to brief media on the latest developments at 9.30am
8.10 am: Investigating officials believe the modus operandi was similar to that of the Ahmedabad blasts in 2008
7.45 am: All schools, offices in areas surrounding the three blast sites remain closed
July 14, 2011 - 7 am: No confirmation on involvement of Indian Mujahideen in the blasts
00.25: Union Home Ministry says, "21 dead, 141 injured"
00.20: US Prez Barack Obama's statement on the Mumbai attacks:
"I strongly condemn the outrageous attacks in Mumbai. India is a close friend and partner of the United States. The American people will stand with the Indian people in times of trial, and we will offer support to India's efforts to bring the perpetrators of these terrible crimes to justice".
"During my trip to Mumbai, I saw firsthand the strength and resilience of the Indian people, and I have no doubt that the India will overcome these deplorable terrorist attacks".
00.15: "Such acts of cowardice would be dealt with appropriately," says Sonia Gandhi
00.10: Cold-blooded slaughter of innocents, says Mah CM Chavan
23.51: Home Ministry says, "21 dead, 121 injured"
23.50: PM, Sonia, ask people to remain calm
23.49: Mumbai police asks people to stay indoors
23.35: PM asks HM to provide all "expert" assistance to the blast investigations
23:31: Chidambaram air dashes to Mumbai
23:30: Pakistan Prez, PM, condemn Mumbai blasts
23:29: Police say CCTV footage could be crucial evidence
23: 28: PM Manmohan asks Maharashtra CM Chavan to keep him posted on developments
23: 27: HM Chidambaram says, "We infer this is a coordinated attack by terrorists"
23.25: PM asks all in Mumbai & Maharashtra to "remain calm and united"
23:15: Fears that rain may wash away crucial evidence
23:15: Raining in Mumbai
23:08: US Prez Obama condemns Mumbai attacks, offers US assistance
23:06: Mumbai police chief says, "Not sure who is behind the attack"
23:02: Mah CM Chavan appeals for calm
23:01: Mah CM Chavan says, "we are better prepared than we were earlier to tackle terror"
23.00: High alert in Delhi, other metros
22.50: Tweet from Bollywood, earlier in the evening
Amitabh Bachchan- "Bomb blasts in Mumbai .. !! God ! I hope people are safe !!"
Shahid Kapoor- "3 blasts in mumbai .. Please head home !!!!!"
Abhishek Bachchan- "Hope and pray that you people are safe and home"
Dia Mirza- "People please don't panic. Stay calm. Get home safe."
Anupam Kher- "#MumbaiBlasts. Anger, frustration and helplessness is NOT the answer. Hanging the terrorists already covicted"
22.40: Not sure who is behind the attack
22.34: Govt sources: 21 killed, 113 injured
22.34: Govt sources: 20 killed, 113 injured
22.31: Police question owner of car in Zaveri Bazaar area
10.27: Forensic team at site of attacks
10.23: 20 dead says government
22.00: Home Minister Chidambaram to reach in Mumbai on Thursday morning
9.53: President mourns loss of lives in Mumbai blasts
9.52: Pakistan government condemns Mumbai blasts
9.50: Chidambaram chairs high-level meeting after serial blasts rock Mumbai
44: Delhi on high alert after Mumbai blasts
8:49: 10-15 killed as terror strikes Mumbai again
8:48: Pak condemns Mumbai blasts
7.44: Multiple blasts in Mumbai
7.43: 15 injured in Mumbai blasts
7.34: Witness says four dead in Mumbai blasts: Reports
7.32: Three blasts in Mumbai, at least 15 injured: Reports
7.24: Three blasts in Mumbai: police
Train, flight services normal in Mumbai
Mumbai: But for some delays due to heavy rain, train and flight operations in India's commercial capital were normal Thursday morning, a day after a terror attack that left at least 18 people dead and 131 injured.
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Regular crowds were seen on the suburban trains of both the central and western railway, as also the busses operated by the state government-run Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST), which form the backbone of the city's network.
"There was some disruption. But that was more to do with waterlogging around Thane due to heavy rains early in the morning," an official of the Central Railway said, adding the tracks were cleared in a few hours and normal operations had resumed.
"As you can see, a majority of people are back at work. My two children have also gone to school," said Kiran S.V., an executive who works in Worli, three km away from Dadar, one of the three sites of the terror attack. "No point or reason to sit at home."
At least 18 people were killed and 131 injured, 23 of them seriously, in three blasts at Dadar, Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House in south-to-central quarters of this city Wednesday evening.
At the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, flight operations were normal and not a single incoming or outgoing flight was cancelled, officials said. But the heavy rains caused disruption of services for some 15 minutes after 11:10 a.m.
"Namaskar. Our prayers today for those who lost their dear ones. Another rainy morning in Mumbai, likely to clear up later. Flight operations normal," said a message from the airport authority posted on the wall of their Facebook page.
Though bleary eyed for lack of sleep, having watched television and surfed the net since Wednesday evening, Anupam Roy Choudhary, a software engineer with a leading IT consultancy, was back at his office near Thane Thursday morning.
"Yes, there is anger. These terror strikes continue and the government is unable to do much. But people have resigned to their fate. Life must go on. We are now used to it," Choudhary told IANS. "Things, as you see, are back to normal. People have to earn."
Source: IANS
99 per cent terror attacks stopped: Rahul Gandhi
Bhubaneswar: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Thursday said that 99 percent of the terror attacks had been stopped in the country, thanks to various measures, including improved intelligence.
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Addressing a press conference here, a day after serial bombings in Mumbai killed at least 17 people and injured more than 130, the Congress MP called for efforts to stop terrorist attacks in the country.
"It is very difficult to stop any single terrorist attack," he said, adding that 99 per cent of the attacks have been stopped. "We must stop 100 per cent attack."
Referring to Wednesday's attack, Gandhi said the response of the government was prompt. "We are responding to it in a quite organised fashion."
Gandhi, the son of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, is on a two-day visit to Orissa beginning Wednesday to strengthen the grassroots base of the party.
He returns to New Delhi Thursday.
Source: IANS
No intelligence inputs: Chidambaram
Mumbai: At least 18 people died in the coordinated terror attack in Mumbai the day before, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday, asking people not to speculate on those responsible behind it. He also admitted that there were no intelligence inputs about the triple blasts.
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He said 131 people had been taken to 13 hospitals with injuries - of which 26 were discharged, 82 were stable and 23 were serious. He said one severed head was also found at the site, which could take the death toll to 18.
"There was no intelligence input to central or state intel agency regarding yesterday's blast -- it was unfortunate," Chidambaram said at a press conference here after visiting the blast sites with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
"I request you all, do not speculate. I advise the Maharashtra government not to proceed with pre-suppositions or assumptions," the home minister said, adding that the people of Mumbai had responded "splendidly".
According to Chidambaram, the sites had now been cordoned off and the state and central-level teams would continue to work to determine the nature of the explosives. "But it was not a remote trigger blast."
"Ammonium nitrate was used with a timer. The fact that they all took place within minutes of each other -- eight-to-10 minutes -- shows that it was a coordinated terror attack," he said.
People look at the photo of a missing person to try and identify him at the J.J. hospital morgue in Mumbai on Thursday. Three blasts rocked the crowded areas of Mumbai on Wednesday.
The state's forensic lab has collected the requisite evidence to ascertain the actual nature of explosive, the timer mechanism, the package that contained the explosives, the place it was located and the damage caused.
The home minister also sought to clarify that absence of intelligence inputs did not necessarily mean a a failure of the concerned agencies.
"When there is no intelligence on particular agency, it doesn't mean a failure of the agency. There was no intelligence on an imminent attack, but its not failure. In nature of things, whoever prepared the attack, worked in a clandestine manner," he said.
"Maybe, it was a small group. Intelligence is covered everyday and every hour," he said.
"This incident comes after 31 months," he said, referring to the previous blast in the state on Nov 11, 2008. "In between, there was one terror attack in Pune. In a sense, the Mumbai Police have developed a lot of capacity to deal with terror threats and successfully foiled a large number of terror threats."
Among the three blasts, all in south-to-central Mumbai, he described the one at Dadar as a low-intensity one, and said the other two at Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House were of medium-to-high intensity.
Asked if the terror attacks were aimed at destabilising activity in the city and the country as a whole, Chidambaram replied: "I don't consider it as an attack on India's commercial capital. It is deeply regrettable. But India will continue to grow and prosper."
He also said the investigators would also keep in mind whether the blasts were aimed at destabilising talks with Pakistan. "Indo-Pakistan talks are on a few days That angle will also be kept in mind."
Source: IANS
Shaken, but Zaveri Bazar jewellers won't shift
Mumbai: A third bomb blast in two decades at Zaveri Bazar - Mumbai's most popular address for gems and jewellery - has left its jewellers and diamond merchants shocked and concerned about business. But they are staying put. When asked if the merchants would like to move out, most refused.
"What is the point in shifting base? Are other business locations safer," asked Raju Solanki, a gold jeweller whose 60-year-old shop is barely 200 metres from the blast site.
The south Mumbai jewellery market Wednesday evening came under terror attack for the third time in 18 years. It was one of the three serial blasts Wednesday evening to rock Mumbai - the others having occurred in Dadar in south-central Mumbai and Opera House in south Mumbai, killing at least 17 and injuring 131.
Several merchants, however, expressed deep concern as businesses will be hit owing to the temporary closing down of more than 10,000 shops, including tiny diamond polishing units, post blast.
"My shop is hardly half-a-minute away from the spot of the blast and now I will have to keep it closed as the entire lane has been cordoned off," Mohanlal Seth told IANS.
"Moreover, friends and relative are pressurising me to shift my business elsewhere. But it is not as easy. There is no assurance of safety elsewhere either," he added.
Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar was first targeted March 12, 1993, when 13 serial blasts across the city killed 257 people and injured over 700 others. The second strike was on Aug 25, 2003 when twin blasts - one at the Gateway of India and the other at Zaveri Bazar - killed 54 people and injured another 244.
The congested Zaveri Bazar has around 50,000 small and big shops and small diamond polishing units, including bullion market, in its narrow, labyrinthine lanes spread across 10 km. Kumar Jain, vice president of the Mumbai Jewellers' Association, also expressed concern over the loss in the business that might follow.
"If attacks like these continue, skilled labour will move back to their own regions and Mumbai's economy will take a hit," he said. "But it is equally worrisome for those who have had their businesses here for many decades. For them, it is practically impossible to shift base."
Agreed Pradeep Solanki, another jeweller whose shop is in the lane next to where the blast took place. "Where, if not here? It is childish to even think of shifting base. Which other place is safe?" he asked.
Solanki said time and again the jewellers' association has appealed to police and the state government to address their concerns at haphazard parking and illegal hawking in the area, but these have fallen on deaf ears.
"People park in front of our shops in double lines. It becomes all the more congested. After the 1993 blast, this was taken care of, but now it is back to square one," Solanki said. "But this is not a permanent solution. There has to be a long term solution to this," he added.
Besides Zaveri Bazar, the blast at Opera House, near Charni Road station, took place in a building where many diamond and gold jewellery firms are located, and the third near Kabutarkhana in Dadar West.
Source: IANS
Mumbai blasts a ploy to derail India-Pakistan talks?
New Delhi: India has scrupulously avoided pointing a finger at Pakistan for the serial blasts in Mumbai Wednesday evening, but the terror attack which occurred barely a fortnight before the meeting of foreign ministers of the two countries here has raised suspicions about whether some right-wing elements were trying to derail the revived peace process.
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After cold-shouldering Pakistan's overtures for talks for over two years following the 26/11 Mumbai terror spree, India decided to revive the peace process with its estranged neighbour in February.
Since then, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan held talks in Islamabad last month and agreed on some cross-Kashmir and nuclear confidence-building measures to bridge the post-26/11 trust deficit.
The Islamabad meeting set the stage for the talks between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan July 26-27. As the blasts took place barely a fortnight before Pakistan's foreign minister comes here for talks, some analysts, speaking on condition of anonymity, speculated whether it was a handiwork of those trying to derail the peace process between the two neighbnours.
In his condemnation of the attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scrupulously avoided even the vaguest insinuation about the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the attacks. When contacted, officials of the external affairs ministry also declined to speculate.
Pakistan's president and prime minister were quick to condemn the attacks. Early this week, Pakistan's foreign office said Minister of State for External Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, who is widely tipped to be the next foreign minister, will be coming to New Delhi for the talks.
Although the motive of the Wednesday attack is not known, its timing has raised suspicions in informed strategic circles whether the serial blasts were engineered by those unhappy with the latest stab at rapprochement between the two neighbours.
The blasts also took place a few days before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes to India Monday for the second India-US strategic dialogue July 19-20.
According to Stratfor Global Intelligence, a US strategic affairs think tank, the Mumbai serial blasts mark the first major attack in India since the November 2008 Mumbai attack.
"Though the magnitude of these explosions has yet to be determined, this attack does not appear to be as sophisticated as the 2008 attacks, which involved an assault team consisting of a number of militants that coordinated 10 shooting and bombing attacks across the city," Stratfor said in a report. "The July 13 attack, by contrast, appears to have not involved suicide attackers but consisted of explosives placed in a taxi, a meter box and locations where they could be remotely detonated. This tactic is much more in line with those used by more amateurish groups, such the Indian Mujahideen, who have targeted crowded urban areas before," it said.
However, the think tank placed the attacks against the backdrop of the fragile security dynamics in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. "Nonetheless, the attack comes at a critical juncture in US-Pakistani relations as the United States is trying to accelerate a withdrawal of its military forces in Afghanistan," it said.
"The 2008 Mumbai attacks revealed the extent to which traditional Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups, such as elements from the defunct Lashkar-e-Taiba, had collaborated with transnational jihadist elements like al Qaeda in trying to instigate a crisis between Islamabad and New Delhi," the think tank said.
"Such a crisis would complicate US-Pakistani dealings on Afghanistan, potentially serving the interests of al Qaeda as well as factions within Pakistan trying to derail a negotiation between the United States and Pakistan," it added.
Source: IANS
Mumbai blasts coordinated terror attack: Chidambaram
New Delhi: The blasts that rocked Mumbai were a "coordinated attack by terrorists", Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Wednesday of the three explosions that left 13 people dead and over 80 injured.
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"The blasts took place between 6.45 p.m. and 7 p.m. and therefore we infer from this that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists," the home minister said. He said teams of forensic and security experts were being rushed to the blast sites to coordinate with Mumbai Police for investigations.
He said the elite anti-terror force, the National Security Guard (NSG), which has a hub in Mumbai, is on standby. "One Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) team from Delhi and one CFSL team from Hyderabad have been rushed to Mumbai by special aircraft. The team from Delhi will take off shortly," he said.
The home minister said a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA), the premier terror probe agency, was already in Mumbai in connection with another investigation.
"They have been asked to associate with Mumbai Police investigation. Another NIA team led by an inspector general is also being rushed to Mumbai."
"I have spoken to the chief minister and he is coordinating the relief and rescue operations," he said. He also said that there was no report of any other blast or threat. "Mumbai has been put on high alert and I appeal to the people to remain calm and maintain peace."
"All injured have been evacuated to hospitals. The number of injured could rise," he said.
Zaveri Bazar became target for the third time
The posh South Mumbai jewellery market Zaveri Bazar became a terror strike target for the third time. The three blasts that rocked Mumbai Wednesday evening took place in Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri Bazar localities, killing at least 20 people and injuring over 100.
Zaveri Bazar was first targeted in August 1993 when 13 serial blasts ripped through the city, killing 257 people and injuring over 700. The Aug 25, 2003 twin blasts - one at Gateway of India and another at Zaveri Bazar -killed 54 people and injured another 244.
The congested Zaveri Bazar in South Mumbai has a number of shops located in its narrow lanes. Wednesday's blast took place outside a famous eatery where people generally meet for a quick snack after office hours. This place is crowded the most in the evenings.
Source: IANS
Hospitals in overdrive after Mumbai blast victims rush in
Mumbai: For the first time, private hospitals played a major role in providing relief and treatment to the victims of Wednesday's triple blasts which claimed 21 lives and injured another 141.
- 100%0%
Of the total casualties, as many as 37 were handled by the private Saifee Hospital, outside Charni Road station in the east, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005.
Close behind was another prestigious and private Harkishandas Hospital at Girgaum which handled 36 victims.
Besides the injured, both hospitals reported casualty figures of five each.
Both hospitals are barely a kilometer away from the two worst hit sites - Zaveri Bazar and Opera House.
Similarly, other private hospitals like Bombay Hospital at New Marine Lines handled six victims, while Bhatia Hospital nearby is treating two victims and two were handled by Sushrusha Citizens Co-Operative Hospital Ltd. Dadar, which was inaugurated by then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1969.
The remaining injured were rushed to civic or government run hospitals like St. George Hospital (15, including one dead), Sir J. J. Hospital (14, including one dead), G.T. Hospital (14, including four dead), KEM Hospital (9) and Nair Hospital (two, including one dead).
Incidentally, during the Nov 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, a few private hospitals had opened their doors to the victims and provided them with the best of emergency treatment and subsequent treatment.
Source: IANS
2008 Mumbai attacks
| 2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks | |
|---|---|
 Map of the 2008 Mumbai attacks | |
| Date | 26 November 2008 – 29 November 2008 (IST, UTC+5:30) |
| Attack type | Bombings, shootings,hostage crisis[1] |
| Death(s) | Approximately 164 (including 10 terrorists)[2] |
| Injured | More than 308[2] |
| Perpetrator(s) | Lashkar-e-Taiba led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed[3][4] |
| ||
| ||
The 2008 Mumbai attacks (often referred to as November 26 or 26/11) were more than 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, by Islamic terrorists[5][6] who invaded from Pakistani seawaters.[7] The terrorists who carried out the reconnaissance before the attacks later stated that the attacks were conducted with the support of Pakistan's secret service, the ISI.[8][9] The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on 26 November 2008 and lasted until 29 November, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308.[2][10]
Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai: at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident,[11] the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower,[11] Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital (a women and children's hospital),[11] the Nariman House Jewish community centre,[12] the Metro Cinema,[13] and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College.[11] There was also an explosion at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.[14] By the early morning of 28 November, all sites except for the Taj hotel had been secured byMumbai Police and security forces. An action by India's National Security Guards (NSG) on 29 November (the action is officially named Operation Black Tornado) resulted in the death of the last remaining attackers at the Taj hotel, ending all fighting in the attacks.[15]
Ajmal Kasab,[16] the only attacker who was captured alive, disclosed that the attackers were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant organisation, considered a terrorist organisation by India, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations,[17] among others.[18] The Indian government said that the attackers came from Pakistan, and their controllers were in Pakistan.[19] On 7 January 2009,[20] Pakistan's Information Minister Sherry Rehman officially accepted Ajmal Kasab's nationality as Pakistani.[21] On 12 February 2009, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik asserted that parts of the attack had been planned in Pakistan.[22] A trial court on 6 May 2010 sentenced Ajmal Kasab to death on five counts.
Pakistan's ISI is alleged to have been involved in the attacks according to Wikileaks.[23]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Background
There have been many bombings in Mumbai since the 13 coordinated bomb explosions that killed 257 people and injured 700 on 12 March 1993.[24] The 1993 attacks are believed to have been in retaliation for the Babri Mosque demolition.[25]
On 6 December 2002, a blast in a BEST bus near Ghatkopar station killed two people and injured 28.[26] The bombing occurred on the tenth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque inAyodhya.[27] A bicycle bomb exploded near the Vile Parle station in Mumbai, killing one person and injuring 25 on 27 January 2003, a day before the visit of the Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the city.[28] On 13 March 2003, a day after the tenth anniversary of the 1993 Bombay bombings, a bomb exploded in a train compartment near the Mulund station, killing 10 people and injuring 70.[29] On 28 July 2003, a blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar killed 4 people and injured 32.[30]On 25 August 2003, two bombs exploded in South Mumbai, one near the Gateway of India and the other at Zaveri Bazaar in Kalbadevi. At least 44 people were killed and 150 injured.[31] On 11 July 2006, seven bombs exploded within 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai.[32] 209 people were killed, including 22 foreigners[33][34]and over 700 injured.[35][36] According to the Mumbai Police, the bombings were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).[37][38]
[edit]Attacks
The first events were detailed around 20:00 Indian Standard Time (IST) on 26 November, when 10 men in inflatable speedboats came ashore at two locations in Colaba. They reportedly told local Marathi-speaking fishermen who asked them who they were to "mind their own business" before they split up and headed two different ways. The fishermen's subsequent report to police received little response.[39]
[edit]Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) was attacked by two gunmen, one of whom, Ajmal Kasab, was later caught alive by the police and identified by eyewitnesses. The attacks began around 21:30 when the two men entered the passenger hall and opened fire,[40] using AK-47 rifles.[41] The attackers killed 58 people and injured 104 others,[41] their assault ending at about 22:45.[40]Security forces and emergency services arrived shortly afterwards. The two gunmen fled the scene and fired at pedestrians and police officers in the streets, killing eight police officers. The attackers passed a police station. Many of the outgunned police officers were afraid to confront the attackers, and instead switched off the lights and secured the gates. The attackers then headed towards Cama Hospital with an intention to kill patients,[42] but the hospital staff locked all of the patient wards. A team of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad led by police chief Hemant Karkaresearched the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and then left in pursuit of Kasab and Khan. Kasab and Khan opened fire on the vehicle in a lane next to the hospital and the police returned fire. Karkare,Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte and one of their officers were killed, though the only survivor, Constable Arun Jadhav, was wounded.[43] Kasab and Khan seized the police vehicle but later abandoned it and seized a passenger car instead. They then ran into a police roadblock, which had been set up after Jadhav radioed for help.[44] A gun battle then ensued in which Khan was killed and Kasab was wounded. After a physical struggle, Kasab was arrested.[45] A police officer, Tukaram Omble was also killed.
[edit]Leopold Cafe
The Leopold Cafe, a popular restaurant and bar on Colaba Causeway in South Mumbai, was one of the first sites to be attacked.[46] Two attackers opened fire on the cafe on the evening of 26 November, killing at least 10 people (including some foreigners), and injuring many more.[47] The attackers fired into the street as they fled the scene.[citation needed]
[edit]Bomb blasts in taxis
There were two explosions in taxis caused by timer bombs. The first one occurred at 22:40 at Vile Parle, killing the driver and a passenger. The second explosion took place at Wadi Bunder between 22:20 and 22:25. Three people including the driver of the taxi were killed, and about 15 other people were injured.[14][48]
[edit]Taj Mahal Hotel and Oberoi Trident
Two hotels, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Oberoi Trident, were amongst the four locations targeted. Six explosions were reported at the Taj hotel and one at the Oberoi Trident.[49][50] At the Taj Mahal, firefighters rescued 200 hostages from windows using ladders during the first night.
CNN initially reported on the morning of 27 November 2008 that the hostage situation at the Taj had been resolved and quoted the police chief of Maharashtra stating that all hostages were freed;[51] however, it was learned later that day that there were still two attackers holding hostages, including foreigners, in the Taj Mahal hotel.[52]
During the attacks, both hotels were surrounded by Rapid Action Force personnel and Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and National Security Guards (NSG) commandos.[53][54] When reports emerged that attackers were receiving television broadcasts, feeds to the hotels were blocked.[55]Security forces stormed both hotels, and all nine attackers were killed by the morning of 29 November.[56][57] Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan of the NSG was killed during the rescue of Commando Sunil Yadav, who was hit in the leg by a bullet during the rescue operations at Taj.[58][59] 32 hostages were killed at the Oberoi Trident.[60]
A number of European Parliament Committee on International Trade delegates were staying in the Taj Mahal hotel when it was attacked,[61] but none of them were injured.[62] British ConservativeMember of the European Parliament (MEP) Sajjad Karim (who was in the lobby when attackers initially opened fire there) and German Social Democrat MEP Erika Mann were hiding in different parts of the building.[63] Also reported present was Spanish MEP Ignasi Guardans, who was barricaded in a hotel room.[64][65] Another British Conservative MEP, Syed Kamall, reported that he along with several other MEPs left the hotel and went to a nearby restaurant shortly before the attack.[63] Kamall also reported that Polish MEP Jan Masiel was thought to have been sleeping in his hotel room when the attacks started, but eventually left the hotel safely.[66] Kamall and Guardans reported that a Hungarian MEP's assistant was shot.[63][67] Also caught up in the shooting were the President of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, while checking in at the Oberoi Trident,[67] and Indian MP N. N. Krishnadas of Kerala and Sir Gulam Noon while having dinner at a restaurant in the Taj hotel.[68][69]
[edit]Nariman House
Nariman House, a Chabad Lubavitch Jewish center in Colaba known as the Mumbai Chabad House, was taken over by two attackers and several residents were held hostage.[70] Police evacuated adjacent buildings and exchanged fire with the attackers, wounding one. Local residents were told to stay inside. The attackers threw a grenade into a nearby lane, causing no casualties. NSG commandos arrived from Delhi, and a Naval helicopter took an aerial survey. During the first day, 9 hostages were rescued from the first floor. The following day, the house was stormed by NSG commandos fast-roping from helicopters onto the roof, covered by snipers positioned in nearby buildings. After a long battle, one NSG commando and both perpetrators were killed.[71] Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg, who was six months pregnant, were murdered with four other hostages inside the house by the attackers.[72]
According to radio transmissions picked up by Indian intelligence, the attackers "would be told by their handlers in Pakistan that the lives of Jews were worth 50 times those of non-Jews." Injuries reported on some of the bodies indicate they may have been tortured.[73][74]
[edit]End of the attacks
By the morning of 27 November, the army had secured the Jewish outreach center at Nariman House as well as the Oberoi Trident hotel. They also incorrectly believed that the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers had been cleared of attackers, and soldiers were leading hostages and holed-up guests to safety, and removing bodies of those killed in the attacks.[75][76][77] However, later news reports indicated that there were still two or three attackers in the Taj, with explosions heard and gunfire exchanged.[77] Fires were also reported at the ground floor of the Taj with plumes of smoke arising from the first floor.[77] The final operation at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel was completed by the NSG commandos at 08:00 on 29 November, killing three attackers and resulting in the conclusion of the attacks.[78]The security forces rescued 250 people from the Oberoi, 300 from the Taj and 60 people (members of 12 different families) from Nariman House.[79] In addition, police seized a boat filled with arms and explosives anchored at Mazgaon dock off Mumbai harbour.[80]
[edit]Attribution
The Mumbai attacks were planned and directed by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants inside Pakistan, and carried out by ten young armed men trained and sent to Mumbai and directed from inside Pakistan via mobile phones and VoIP.[18][81][82]
In July 2009 Pakistani authorities confirmed that LeT plotted and financed the attacks from LeT camps in Karachi and Thatta.[83] In November 2009, Pakistani authorities charged seven men they had arrested earlier, of planning and executing the assault.[84]
Mumbai police originally identified 37 suspects –-including two army officers-– for their alleged involvement in the plot. All but two of the suspects, many of whom are identified only through aliases, are Pakistani.[85] Two more suspects arrested in the United States in October 2009 for other attacks were also found to have been involved in planning the Mumbai attacks.[86][87] One of these men, Pakistani American David Headley, was found to have made several trips to India before the attacks and gathered video and GPS information on behalf of the plotters.
In April 2011, the United States issued arrest warrants for four Pakistani men as suspects in the attack. The men, Sajid Mir, Abu Qahafa, Mazhar Iqbal, and alias "Major Iqbal", are believed to be members of Lashkar-e-Taiba and helped plan and train the attackers.[88]
[edit]Negotiations with Pakistan
Pakistan initially denied that Pakistanis were responsible for the attacks, blaming plotters in Bangladesh and Indian criminals,[89] a claim refuted by India,[90] and saying they needed information from India on other bombings first.[91]
Pakistani authorities finally agreed that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani on 7 January 2009,[20][92][93] and registered a case against three other Pakistani nationals.[94]
The Indian government supplied evidence to Pakistan and other governments, in the form of interrogations, weapons, and call records of conversations during the attacks.[3][95] In addition, Indian government officials said that the attacks were so sophisticated that they must have had official backing from Pakistani "agencies", an accusation denied by Pakistan.[82][92]
Under US and UN pressure, Pakistan arrested a few members of Jamaat ud-Dawa and briefly put its founder under house arrest, but he was found to be free a few days later.[96] A year after the attacks, Mumbai police continued to complain that Pakistani authorities are not cooperating by providing information for their investigation.[97] Meanwhile, journalists in Pakistan said security agencies were preventing them from interviewing people from Kasab's village.[98][99] Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the Pakistani authorities had not shared any information about American suspects Headley and Rana, but that the FBI had been more forthcoming.[100]
An Indian report, summarising intelligence gained from India's interrogation of David Headley,[101] was released in October 2010. It alleged that Pakistan's intelligence agency (ISI) had provided support for the attacks by providing funding for reconnaissance missions in Mumbai.[102] The report included Headley's claim that Lashkar-e-Taiba's chief military commander, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, had close ties to the ISI.[101] He alleged that "every big action of LeT is done in close coordination with [the] ISI."[102]
[edit]Investigation
According to investigations, the attackers traveled by sea from Karachi, Pakistan, across theArabian Sea, hijacked the Indian fishing trawler 'Kuber', killed the crew of four, then forced the captain to sail to Mumbai. After murdering the captain, the attackers entered Mumbai on a rubber dinghy. The captain of 'Kuber', Amar Singh Solanki, had earlier been imprisoned for six months in a Pakistani jail for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters.[103] The attackers stayed and were trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in a safehouse at Azizabad near Karachi before boarding a small boat for Mumbai.[104]
David Headley was a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and between 2002 and 2009 Headley traveled extensively as part of his work for LeT. Headley received training in small arms and countersurveillance from LeT, built a network of connections for the group, and was chief scout in scoping out targets for Mumbai attack[105][106] having allegedly been given $25,000 in cash in 2006 by an ISI officer known as Major Iqbal, The officer also helped him arrange a communications system for the attack, and oversaw a model of the Taj Mahal Hotel so that gunmen could know their way inside the target, according to Headley's testimony to Indian authorities. Headley also helped ISI recruit Indian agents to monitor Indian troop levels and movements, according to a US official. At the same time, Headley was also an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Agency, and Headley's wives warned American officials of Headley's involvement with LeT and his plotting of terrorist operations, warning specifically that the Taj Mahal Hotel may be their target.[105]
US officials believed that the Inter-Services Intelligence (I.S.I.) officers provided support to Lashkar-e-Taiba militants who carried out the attacks.[107]
[edit]Method
The attackers had planned the attack several months ahead of time and knew some areas well enough for the attackers to vanish, and reappear after security forces had left. Several sources have quoted Kasab telling the police that the group received help from Mumbai residents.[108][109] The attackers used at least three SIM cards purchased on the Indian side of the border with Bangladesh.[110] There were also reports of a SIM card purchased in the US state New Jersey.[111] Police had also mentioned that Faheem Ansari, an Indian Lashkar operative who had been arrested in February 2008, had scouted the Mumbai targets for the November attacks.[112] Later, the police arrested two Indian suspects, Mikhtar Ahmad, who is from Srinagar in Kashmir, and Tausif Rehman, a resident of Kolkata. They supplied the SIM cards, one in Calcutta, and the other in New Delhi.[113]
Type 86 Grenades made by China's state-owned Norinco were used in the attacks.[114]
Blood tests on the attackers indicate that they had taken cocaine and LSD during the attacks, to sustain their energy and stay awake for 50 hours. Police say that they found syringes on the scenes of the attacks. There were also indications that they had been taking steroids.[115]The gunman who survived said that the attackers had used Google Earth to familiarise themselves with the locations of buildings used in the attacks.[116]
There were ten gunmen, nine of whom were subsequently shot dead and one captured by security forces.[117][118] Witnesses reported that they looked to be in their early twenties, wore black t-shirts and jeans, and that they smiled and looked happy as they shot their victims.[119]
It was initially reported that some of the attackers were British citizens,[120][121] but the Indian government later stated that there was no evidence to confirm this.[122] Similarly, early reports of twelve gunmen[123] were also later shown to be incorrect.[3]
On 9 December, the ten attackers were identified by Mumbai police, along with their home towns in Pakistan: Ajmal Amir from Faridkot, Abu Ismail Dera Ismail Khan from Dera Ismail Khan, Hafiz Arshad and Babr Imran from Multan, Javed from Okara, Shoaib from Narowal, Nazih and Nasr from Faisalabad, Abdul Rahman from Arifwalla, and Fahad Ullah from Dipalpur Taluka. Dera Ismail Khan is in the North-West Frontier Province; the rest of the towns are in Pakistani Punjab.[124]
On 6 April 2010, the Home minister of Maharashtra State, which includes Mumbai, informed the assembly that the bodies of the nine killed Pakistani gunmen from the 2008 attack on Mumbai were buried in a secret location in January 2010. The bodies had been in the mortuary of a Mumbai hospital after Muslim clerics in the city refused to let them be buried on their grounds.[125]
[edit]Arrests
Ajmal Kasab was the only attacker arrested alive by police and is currently under arrest.[126] Much of the information about the attackers' preparation, travel, and movements comes from his confessions to the Mumbai police.[127]
On 12 February 2009 Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that Pakistani national Javed Iqbal, who acquired VoIP phones in Spain for the Mumbai attackers, and Hamad Ameen Sadiq, who had facilitated money transfer for the attack, had been arrested.[94] Two other men known as Khan and Riaz, but whose full names were not given, were also arrested.[128] Two Pakistanis were arrested in Brescia, Italy, on 21 November 2009, after being accused of providing logistical support to the attacks.[129]
In October 2009, two Chicago men were arrested and charged by the FBI for involvement in terrorism abroad, David Coleman Headley andTahawwur Hussain Rana. Headley, a Pakistani-American, was charged in November 2009 with scouting locations for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.[130][131] Headley is reported to have posed as an American Jew and is believed to have links with designated terrorist outfits based in Bangladesh.[132] On 18 March 2010, Headley pled guilty to a dozen charges against him thereby avoiding going to trial.
In December 2009, the FBI charged Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, a retired major in the Pakistani army, for planning the terror attacks in association with Headley.[133]
On 15 January 2010, in a successful snatch operation R&AW agents nabbed Sheikh Abdul Khwaja, one of the handlers of the 26/11 attacks, chief of HuJI India operations and a most wanted terror suspect in India, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, and brought him over to Hyderabad, Indiafor formal arrest.[134]
[edit]Casualties and compensation
At least 166 victims (civilians and security personnel) and nine attackers were killed in the attacks. Among the dead were 28 foreign nationals from 10 countries.[2][51][135][136][137] One attacker was captured.[138] The bodies of many of the dead hostages showed signs of torture or disfigurement.[139] A number of those killed were notable figures in business, media, and security services.[140][141][142]
The government of Maharashtra announced about 
500,000 (US$11,150) as compensation to the kin of each of those killed in the terror attacks and about 50,000 (US$1,115) to the seriously injured.[143] In August 2009, Indian Hotels Company and the Oberoi Group received about $28 million as part-payment of the insurance claims, on account of the attacks on Taj Mahal and Trident, from General Insurance Corporation of India.[144]
[edit]Aftermath
The attacks are commonly referred to in India as "26/11", after the date in 2008 that they began. A commission of inquiry appointed by the Maharashtra state government produced a report that was tabled before the assembly over one year after the events. The report said the "war-like" attack was beyond the capacity of any police force, but it also found fault with the city Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor's lack of leadership during the crisis.[145]
The Maharashtra state government planned to buy 36 speed boats to patrol the coastal areas and several helicopters for the same purpose. It also planned to create an anti-terror force called "Force One" and upgrade all the weapons that Mumbai police currently have.[146] Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on an all-party conference declared that legal framework would be strengthened in the battle against terrorism and a federal anti-terrorist intelligence and investigation agency, like the FBI, will be set up soon to coordinate action against terrorism.[147]The government strengthened anti-terror laws with UAPA 2008, and the federal National Investigation Agency was formed.
The attacks damaged India's already-strained relationship with Pakistan. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that India may indulge in military strikes against terror camps in Pakistan to protect its territorial integrity. There were also after-effects on the United States's relationships with both countries,[148] the US-led NATO war in Afghanistan,[149] and on the Global War on Terror.[150] According toInterpol secretary general Ronald Noble, Indian intelligence agencies did not share any information with them.[151] However, FBI chief Robert Mueller praised the "unprecedented cooperation" between American and Indian intelligence agencies over Mumbai terror attack probe.[152]
[edit]Movement of troops
Pakistan moved troops towards the border with India border voicing concerns about the Indian government's possible plans to launch attacks on Pakistani soil if it did not cooperate. After days of talks, the Pakistan government, however, decided to start moving troops away from the border.[153]
[edit]Reactions
Indians criticised their political leaders after the attacks, saying that their ineptness was partly responsible. The Times of India commented on its front page that "Our politicians fiddle as innocents die."[154] Political reactions in Mumbai and India included a range of resignations and political changes, including the resignations of Minister for Home Affairs, Shivraj Patil,[155] Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh,[156] and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharastra R. R. Patil.[157] Prominent Muslim personalities such as Bollywood actor Aamir Khan appealed to the community members in the country to observe Eid al-Adha as a day of mourning on 9 December 2008.[158] The business establishment also reacted, with changes to transport, and requests for an increase in self-defense capabilities.[159] The attacks also triggered a chain of citizens' movements across India such as the India Today Group's "War Against Terror" campaign. There were vigils held across all of India with candles and placards commemorating the victims of the attacks.[160] The NSG commandos based in Delhi also met criticism for taking 10 hours to reach the 3 sites under attack.[161][162]
International reaction for the attacks was widespread, with many countries and international organizations condemning the attacks and expressing their condolences to the civilian victims. Many important personalities around the world also condemned the attacks.[163] Outgoing US President George W. Bush said "We pledge the full support of the United States as India investigates these attacks, brings the guilty to justice and sustains its democratic way of life."[164]Likewise, a spokesman for then President-elect Barack Obama said that Obama "strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and his thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of India."[165]
Media coverage highlighted the use of new media and Internet social networking tools, including Twitter and Flickr, in spreading information about the attacks. In addition, many Indian bloggers and Wikipedia offered live textual coverage of the attacks.[166] A map of the attacks was set up by a web journalist using Google Maps.[167][168] The New York Times, in July 2009, described the event as "what may be the most well-documented terrorist attack anywhere."[169]
In November 2010, families of American victims of the attacks filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn, New York, naming Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, chief of the I.S.I., as being complicit in the Mumbai attacks.[107]
[edit]Kasab's trial
Kasab's trial was delayed due to legal issues, as many Indian lawyers were unwilling to represent him. A Mumbai Bar Association passed a resolution proclaiming that none of its members would represent Kasab. However, the Chief Justice of India stated that Kasab needed a lawyer for a fair trial. A lawyer for Kasab was eventually found, but was replaced due to a conflict of interest. On 25 February 2009, Indian investigators filed an 11,000-page chargesheet, formally charging Kasab with murder, conspiracy, and waging war against India among other charges.
Kasab's trial began on 6 May 2009. He initially pleaded not guilty, but later admitted his guilt on 20 July 2009. He initially apologized for the attacks and claimed that he deserved the death penalty for his crimes, but later retracted these claims, saying that he had been tortured by police to force his confession, and that he had been arrested while roaming the beach. The court had accepted his plea, but due to the lack of completeness within his admittance, the judge had deemed that many of the 86 charges were not addressed and therefore the trial continued.
Kasab was convicted of all 86 charges on 3 May 2010. He was found guilty of murder for directly killing seven people, conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of the 166 people killed in the three-day terror siege, waging war against India, causing terror, and of conspiracy to murder two high-ranking police officers. On 6 May 2010, he was sentenced to death by hanging.[170] [171] [172] [173] However, he appealed his sentence at high court.[citation needed]On 21 February 2011, the Bombay High Court upheld the death sentence of Kasab, dismissing his appeal.[174]
[edit]Trials in Pakistan
Indian and Pakistani police have exchanged DNA evidence, photographs and items found with the attackers to piece together a detailed portrait of the Mumbai plot. Police in Pakistan have arrested seven people, including Hammad Amin Sadiq, a homeopathic pharmacist, who arranged bank accounts and secured supplies. Sadiq and six others begin their formal trial on 3 October 2009 in Pakistan, though Indian authorities say the prosecution stops well short of top Lashkar leaders.[175] In November 2009, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Pakistan has not done enough to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice.[176]
On the eve of the first anniversary of 26/11, a Pakistani anti-terror court formally charged seven accused, including LeT operations commander Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi.
[edit]Trials in U.S.A.
The LeT operative David Headley in his testimony before a Chicago court during co-accused Tahawwur Rana's trial revealed that MumbaiChabad House was added to the list of targets for surveillance given by his Inter Services Intelligence handler Major Iqbal, though the Oberoi hotel, one of the sites attacked, was not originally on the list.[177] On June 10, 2011, Tahawwur Rana was acquitted of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but was held guilty on two other charges.[178]
[edit]Locations
All the incidents except the explosion at Vile Parle took place in downtown South Mumbai.
- Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; 18.927118°N 72.820618°E
- Taj Mahal Palace & Tower near the Gateway of India; 18.921739°N 72.83331°E
- Leopold Cafe, a popular tourist restaurant in Colaba; 18.922272°N 72.831566°E
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station; 18.940631°N 72.836426°E (express train terminus), 18.94061°N 72.835343°E(suburban terminus)
- Badruddin Tayabji Lane behind the Times of India building.18.942117°N 72.833734°E
- Near St. Xavier's College 18.943919°N 72.831942°E.
- Cama and Albless Hospital; 18.94266°N 72.832993°E
- Nariman House (Chabad House) Jewish outreach center; 18.916517°N 72.827682°E
- Metro Cinema 18.943178°N 72.829474°E
- Mazagaon docks in Mumbai's port area;
- Vile Parle near the airport
[edit]Memorials
On the first anniversary of the event, the state paid homage to the victims of the attack. Force One—a new security force created by the Maharashtra government—staged a parade from Nariman Point to Chowpatty. Other memorials and candlelight vigils were also organised at the various locations where the attacks occurred.[179]
On the second anniversary of the event, homage was again paid to the victims.[180] Security forces were also displayed from Nariman Point.
[edit]See also
[edit]References
- ^ Magnier, Mark; Sharma, Subhash (27 November 2008). "India terrorist attacks leave at least 101 dead in Mumbai". Los Angeles Times: p. A1. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
- ^ a b c d Press Information Bureau (Government of India) (11 December 2008). "HM announces measures to enhance security". Press release. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
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[edit]External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to:November_2008_Mumbai_attacks |
- Channel 4 documentary by Dan Reed – 'Terror in Mumbai'
- Video showing the way in which Indian authorities fought back against the attackers. –CNN-IBN (some Hindi, but mostly English).
- Dossier of evidence collected by investigating agencies of India
- List of Blogs & Bloggers who were live blogging during the attacks
- If Each Of Us Had A Gun We Could Help Combat Terrorism – Journalist Richard Munday talks about the horrific terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India
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Mumbai Terror Attack-Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar July 13th 2011 Mumbai ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d4qz-tQLck2 min - 1 day ago - Uploaded by extrafootages
Mumbai has been attacked again 10 people dead-confired 60 injured-confirmed terrorist attack-confirmed A sad day again for mumbai and us ...
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Israel Condemns Mumbai Terror Attacks-14-Jul-2011
www.mfa.gov.il/.../2011/Israel-Condemns-Mumbai-Terror-Attacks-14-Jul-...14 Jul 2011 – Israel stands side-by side with India in its relentless struggle against terrorand is convinced that the resilience of the Indian people ...
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Mumbai terror attack bears all markings of LeT: US media
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Home Minister P. Chidambaram said there had been no intelligence of an impending attack and, in the absence of any group claiming responsibility, the net of suspicion was flung far and wide.
"All groups hostile to India are on the radar. We are not ruling out anything, we are not ruling in anything. We are looking at everyone," he told reporters after visiting the scene of the three blasts.
The bombs made of ammonium nitrate -- an ingredient for fertiliser commonly used in improvised devices -- went off in the space of 15 minutes on Wednesday evening, in two crowded commercial areas of south Mumbai and a central residential district.
"I think they chose the places because of the density of the population and the very congested nature of these areas," Chidambaram said. "They chose places where even a low-intensity blast could have a great impact."
The official death toll stood at 17. A total of 131 injured were admitted to hospital, of whom 23 were in a serious condition.
Specialist forensic teams, flown in from other cities, combed the blast sites for evidence, but Rakesh Maria, head of the Maharashtra state anti-terrorism squad said monsoon rains were hampering their work.
Maria, who declined to speculate on who might be responsible for the blasts, said investigators hoped CCTV images obtained from all three locations would provide them with a lead.
Crime branch officers have been looking at the footage since last night.
"It's quite a long-drawn process," Maria said, while appealing for public "faith and trust" in the police.
"No matter where the accused are, we will identify and bring them to book," he said.
The Home Ministry said police were interrogating suspected members of the homegrown militant group Indian Mujahideen, who had been arrested in Mumbai several days ago in connection with bomb blasts in the western state of Gujarat in 2008.
The strongest of Wednesday's coordinated explosions hit busy jewellery trading districts in the south of the city, the same area targeted two and half years ago in the traumatic 2008 assault blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.
The memory of that attack -- 60 hours of mayhem as 10 gunmen rampaged through the main railway station and luxury hotels, killing 166 -- is still fresh in the minds of Mumbaikars.
Salim Dharolia, a small-time diamond trader who was waiting to collect the body of his son at the Saifee hospital, wondered aloud why more blood had been shed in his city.
"I have lost my only son. He got married two months ago. Why are people of Mumbai being targeted all the time? What is our crime?" he told AFP.
Relatives of the hurt and deceased gathered at the 13 city hospitals where victims were transferred in ambulances, cars and trucks driven by locals who rushed to help.
The AICC General Secretary also patted the government for the manner in which it responded to the latest attack, saying the response was prompt.
"We are responding to it in a quite organised fashion," he said at a press conference on the second day of his visit to Orissa.
( Mumbai terror attacks: The blast site in Dadar |Mumbai blasts: The day after | Reasons why Zaveri Bazaar is soft target of terrorists )
Rahul said though 99 per cent terror strikes in the country had been prevented due to vigilance and intelligence, the aim is to achieve 100 per cent result.
"We will stop 99 per cent of terror attacks but one per cent of attacks might get through," he said, adding," We must try to stop 100 per cent of attacks. It is something we will fight and defeat."
Rahul further said, "It is very difficult to stop every single terrorist attack. The idea is that we have to fight terrorism at the local level. We have improved in leaps and bounds. But terrorism is something that it is impossible to stop all the time."
He also conveyed his condolences to all the families affected by yesterday's explosions which has left 18 persons dead and 131 injured.
Reminded that there was no terror attack in the US after the 9/11 strike whereas India often faced the menace, Gandhi said Americans had been facing attacks in other places like Afghanistan.
Answering questions at a media conference here, Chandigarh IG P K Srivastava said, "There are intelligence inputs on possible terror strikes in Delhi and prominent cities around it."
He, however, assured that the police had tightened its security in the city and has been sensitising all sections of society on possible terror strike.
Srivastava, who was accompanied by top police brass including city SSP Naunihal Singh , said that police is keeping a close watch on purchase of Ammonium Nitrate in the region.
"It has come to light that Ammonium Nitrate is abundantly used by local modules in the country for causing terror strikes," he said.
Since Punjab and Haryana are agrarian states and Ammonium Nitrate is largely used in fertilizers and manures here, the Chandigarh police will coordinate with the neighbouring states to track bulk purchase of Ammonium Nitrate by individuals, he added.
He said that the city police had procured four Electronic Vaver Devices (EVDs) which are being used in the city to detect materials used in bomb explosions, including RDX and Ammonium Nitrate.
Besides, dog squads are being pressed into service to check any eventuality, he said adding that "dogs are more capable" to sniff bomb devices.
At the same time, the market participants assured the investors from the country and abroad about Indian markets' strength and vibrancy to get over such unfortunate events.
The experts said that markets have time and again shown that such terror strikes would not have any material impact, as they cannot dent the general functioning of the economy.
"Indian Markets have historically been very resilient to such unfortunate incidents. Indian Market is strong, vibrant and on a long-term growth trajectory on the back of growing GDP," Destimoney Securities chief Sudip Bandyopadhyay said.
The country's two main bourses -- the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange -- today opened at their scheduled time and business was normal.
After a 145-point decline in early morning trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex bounced back soon and was seen trading with gains of over 100 points.
Analysts said that the early morning loss was not because of the last evening's terror attack and the markets opened weak largely because of weak cues from other Asian markets.
"Yesterday's terror attack had not much of an impact on today's market movement. Market opened on a lower note on the back of weak Asian cues. Life has got back to normal in Mumbai ," Way2Wealth Brokers COO Ambareesh Baliga said.
"The city was not totally paralysed because of the terror attack which is why the stock market started operation on a normal note," he noted.
Recalling the serial blasts of 2008 in the country's financial hub, Baliga said that the markets bore a dim look initially at that time, but later bounced back.
"The attacks are not going to fundamentally damage anything. Historically, whenever there is these attacks, markets have generally bounced back and closed in the positive zone," Ashika Stock Brokers Research Head Paras Bothra said.
Foreign investors are not likely to get perturbed by these kind of attacks, he added.
In July 11, 2006, when explosions on passenger trains in the city killed 187 people and injured more than 800, the country's benchmark sensitive index Sensex closed with gains of 315 points at 10,930.04 points the following day.
Similar was the case during the November 26, 2008 attack, when gunmen targeted luxury hotels, including Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and Oberoi, a railway station and a Jewish centre. In the following trading session (November 28, 2008) Sensex closed higher by 66 points at 9,092.72 points.
Home Minister P Chidambaram also said that attacks were not aimed at financial markets and that high population density were chosen as targets.
Mumbai terror attacks: Serial blasts unlikely to unnerve investors on Dalal Street
"I do not see any significant impact on the markets as investors have started taking these things in their stride," said Ambareesh Baliga, chief operating officer of Mumbai based brokerage Way2Wealth . "FIIs are unlikely to resort to panic-selling due to this event."
The Sensex rose 184.40 points, or about 1%, to 18,596 on Wednesday. The blast at Zaveri Bazaar may, however, rock the global diamond business since the market is the nerve-centre of the nation's diamond trade. It could also impact the flow of money from diamond traders into stocks.
"Many people are injured here... this is going to impact overall business in diamond market," said Hardik Hundia, a diamond market expert who was near Opera House at the time of the blast. "The blast has hurt sentiment... it will have an effect on all markets. Diamond traders are investors in all markets... the blast will have an impact on all markets," Hundia said.
Security Beefed up
The previous terror strike in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, which lasted nearly three days, pulled down the Sensex by 1.3%. But the index rebounded the day after the terrorists' siege on the Taj Mahal hotel ended. The Sensex had plummeted 2.24% in January 1998 when bombs went off in Malad, a Mumbai suburb.
"The blasts are unlikely to affect market sentiment in a big way...even during the terrorist attack in November 2008, the market was not down in a big way," said SP Tulsian, a Mumbai-based independent investment advisor.
But stock exchanges are not taking any chances. The Bombay Stock Exchange, the worst hit in the 1993 serial blasts, has raised security in and around the iconic Jeejeebhoy Towers. While a dog squad and two platoons of police are always on guard at the exchange, an additional team of commandos has been deployed in Dalal Street to cordon off the premises.
"We have taken some precautionary measures as part of which sniffer dogs and our own security personnel thoroughly searched the BSE building," said the exchange spokesperson. He said activities inside Jeejeebhoy Towers and the Rotunda building remained unaffected.
"Trading and settlement will take place as per schedule," said the spokesperson. The brokerages and other offices, particularly those that are open till late evening, were allowed to function as usual.
"I don't think these things impact investors' sentiment directly," he told reporters here.
The BSE benchmark Sensex opened 145 points lower today in the wake of investor worries following yesterday's serial bomb blasts in the country's financial capital, amid a weakening overseas trend.
However, the market pared initial losses as the day progressed.
Ahluwalia said people perceive such events as acts of terrorism and the Government was taking all necessary steps to to reduce the danger of such events.
"But I don't think investors' sentiment is what you should look at. The real concern is the issue of loss of life," he added.
Earlier in the day, while talking to reporters in Mumbai, Home Minister P Chidambaram too had said the yesterday's blasts were not aimed at un-nerving the business centres of the financial capital of the country but were targeted to hit the congested and populated areas.
"I don't think the blasts yesterday can be interpreted to be an attack on markets. Blasts have taken place in Dadar, in Opera...are bizarre. I think they chose the places because of the density of the population and very congested nature of these areas.
"I don't think it should be treated as an attack on India's commercial capital as I said last attack was on 26/11, this attack after 31 months is regrettable. I want to assure that India will continue to prosper...this cannot be seen as an attack on India's commercial capital," he told reporters here.
Meanwhile, the stock markets here began their business on a normal note.
"I walked on these lanes yesterday and it was the nature of the construction there...the kind of work that goes on there..the density of the population was quite mind-boggling. I think they chose places where even a low intensity blast would have a great impact," Chidambaram said.
After visiting the sites of the the three serial blasts in crowded areas here last evening, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram made it clear that it was too early "to point a finger at any one group".
Chidambaram revised the death toll from 21 that was officially given out last night to 18, including that of a person whose severed head had been found. 131 persons were also injured of whom 23 are in a serious condition, he said.
Addressing a 70-minute joint news conference with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Chidambaram also said "there was no "intelligence failure" on the part of central and state agencies.
There was no intelligence input either with the Central or the state agencies of an "imminent" attack, he said.
"Intelligence is collected every day, every hour. It (blasts) is not a failure of intelligence agencies...whoever has perpetrated the attacks has worked in a very clandestine manner," Chidambaram said, reiterating it was a "coordinated terror attack".
The minister said intelligence gathering had successfully "neutralised" a number of planned attacks in the past two and a half years, but declined to give any details.
At the same time, he asserted that Indians lived "in the most troubled neighbourhood in the world" and therefore all cities in India were "vulnerable" to attack.
"Pakistan-Afghanistan is the epicentre of terror...we are living in the most troubled neighbourhood," he said.
Asked whether the explosions were timed to disrupt the Indo-Pak Foreign Minister-level talks this month end, he said "we are not ruling out anything. That angle will also be kept in mind."
Giving details about investigations carried out since last night, Chidambaram said ammonium nitrate, an explosive substance, was used in the Improvised Explosive Devices(IED) triggered by timers.
He ruled out the use of remote control to trigger the blasts in Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar areas.
"We are not pointing a finger at this stage," Chidambaram said, adding there had been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
"All groups hostile to India are on the radar. We are not ruling out anything, we are not ruling in anything. We are looking at everyone," he said. Chidambaram said, adding "We have to look at every possible hostile group and find out whether they are behind the blast."
Chidambaram's response came to repeated questions whether he suspected the hand of a foreign terror group or right wing groups or the underworld or the Maoists or Indian Mujahideen in the explosions.
Union Home Ministry had officialy stated in its first bulletin last night that the death toll was 21.
"We condemn the despicable act of violence designed to provoke fear and division. Those who perpetrated it must know they cannot succeed," she said last night, shortly after the blasts rocked the financial hub of India.
Reaching out to India, Clinton said she would be travelling to the country next week on July 19-20 as planned. "I believe it is more important than ever that we stand with India, deepen our partnership and reiterate our commitment to the shared struggle against terrorism."
She said the Indian people have suffered from acts of terrorism before and "we have seen them responding with courage and resilience. We are continuing to monitor the situation, including the safety and security of American citizens".
"We reach out to the Indian government to express our condolence and offer support", she added.
"Our hearts are with the victims and their families," Clinton said.
Despite Home Minister P. Chidambaram's insistence that Wednesday's serial bomb blasts in Mumbai could not be blamed on any intelligence failure, experts said India's internal security apparatus remained woefully inadequate.
The three explosions in the country's commercial capital left 17 dead and 131 injured, dozens of them seriously.
Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute of Conflict Management in New Delhi, said new security measures introduced after the 2008 Mumbai attacks had only addressed "a fraction" of the core weaknesses in policing and grassroots information gathering.
"Obviously, you cannot have a 100 percent guarantee against a terror attack, but that said, we have tremendous infirmities in terms of security," Sahni told AFP.
"Our system does not respond on a war footing to terrorism, it acts like a confused bureaucracy," he said, adding that India's police force was largely "incompetent" with little or no forensic capability or intelligence training.
Citing the absence of an effective national crime and terror database, Sahni said successive governments had visibly failed to learn the lessons of the past.
"We have been fighting insurgencies for decades now, and we only introduced a course on counter-terrorism for the police in 2010," he said.
Chidambaram, the minister responsible for India's internal security, had sought to pre-empt such criticism at a press briefing Thursday after visiting the blast sites.
"There was no intelligence failure," Chidambaram argued, highlighting the near-impossibility of preventing what might have been a "very small group" using crude, improvised explosives in a busy area.
The minister, appointed in 2008 to drive the modernisation of the ministry, also revealed that Mumbai police had foiled "a large number" of planned attacks since the 2008 assault that left 166 dead, although he declined to give any details.
Chidambaram was the driving force behind the creation of a National Investigation Agency, intended as a forum to share intelligence on threats from across the country.
John Wilson, a security expert at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said the government was ceding too much ground to militant groups.
"We can't rest on the idea that it's difficult to prevent attacks on soft targets -- areas where many people congregate," Wilson told AFP.
Pointing to counter-terror policies in countries like Britain and the United States, Wilson said other countries had shown that increased surveillance and a properly trained police force could foil such incidents.
India, US to begin internal security dialogue
The talks coincide with the trial in Chicago of Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana during which Pakistani-born American terrorist David Coleman Headley has linked Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group.
With counter-terror ties on top of the list, Napolitano and Chidambaram are also expected to discuss financial fraud, counterfeiting and illicit movement of money, according to sources in the home ministry.
Napolitano arrived in India on a four-day visit Tuesday to boost counter-terrorism ties between two sides. Her first stop was in Mumbai where she paid tributes to the victims of the Mumbai attack and laid a wreath at a police memorial there.
She held talks with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan who stressed on the need for cooperation with the US, including sharing intelligence and technological know-how for enhancing security.
The agenda for talks is expected to include the recent killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and information sharing related to the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
Experts here say the meeting is critical in the US-India strategic dialogue and is expected to further their communication and information-sharing ties on counterterrorism and security issues.
K.P. Vijayalakshmi, head of the Centre for Canadian, US and Latin American Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the visit was important as it happens when India's neighbourhood is facing security threats in the aftermath of Osama's death.
"That brings us to the question whether the war on terror is really about Osama or beyond. And my view is that it is beyond. And clearly Napolitano's visit, I see it in that perspective, that counter-terrorism efforts means there is still a war on terror to be fought," Vijayalakshmi told.
She said the two sides would be looking at three main things - the global supply chain, combating illicit financing and enhancing cyber security - during the talks.
Napolitano in a press conference before her visit said the US and India would also concentrate on cyber security.
The threat assessment in the region from various terror groups will also be on the agenda, the sources said.
India has recently stepped up its security along its coastline and borders. Top leaders, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, have twice in the past three weeks taken stock of the country's preparedness in the event of Pakistan slipping into chaos.
Pakistan's ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had in a recent media interview said that any Indian "Abbottabad-like" attack would invite a befitting response from Pakistan as targets inside the country "had already been identified" and "rehearsals" carried out.
NEW DELHI:Terror will top the agenda when US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Home Minister P. Chidambaram meet Friday for the first formal dialogue on internal security between the two countries.
The talks coincide with the trial in Chicago of Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana during which Pakistani-born American terrorist David Coleman Headley has linked Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group.
With counter-terror ties on top of the list, Napolitano and Chidambaram are also expected to discuss financial fraud, counterfeiting and illicit movement of money, according to sources in the home ministry.
Napolitano arrived in India on a four-day visit Tuesday to boost counter-terrorism ties between two sides. Her first stop was in Mumbai where she paid tributes to the victims of the Mumbai attack and laid a wreath at a police memorial there.
She held talks with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan who stressed on the need for cooperation with the US, including sharing intelligence and technological know-how for enhancing security.
The agenda for talks is expected to include the recent killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and information sharing related to the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
Experts here say the meeting is critical in the US-India strategic dialogue and is expected to further their communication and information-sharing ties on counterterrorism and security issues.
K.P. Vijayalakshmi, head of the Centre for Canadian, US and Latin American Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the visit was important as it happens when India's neighbourhood is facing security threats in the aftermath of Osama's death.
"That brings us to the question whether the war on terror is really about Osama or beyond. And my view is that it is beyond. And clearly Napolitano's visit, I see it in that perspective, that counter-terrorism efforts means there is still a war on terror to be fought," Vijayalakshmi told.
She said the two sides would be looking at three main things - the global supply chain, combating illicit financing and enhancing cyber security - during the talks.
Napolitano in a press conference before her visit said the US and India would also concentrate on cyber security.
The threat assessment in the region from various terror groups will also be on the agenda, the sources said.
India has recently stepped up its security along its coastline and borders. Top leaders, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, have twice in the past three weeks taken stock of the country's preparedness in the event of Pakistan slipping into chaos.
Pakistan's ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had in a recent media interview said that any Indian "Abbottabad-like" attack would invite a befitting response from Pakistan as targets inside the country "had already been identified" and "rehearsals" carried out.
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