26/11 attacks: How Mumbai was liberated

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November 27, 2008 | 0730 hrs IST, Taj Hotel

A year ago Mumbai was under attack and its most prominent landmark - the Taj Hotel - was taken over by terrorists.

Fire and explosions continued through the night of November 26 at the Taj Hotel. By the morning of November 27, the fire at the dome was contained. But the Pakistani handlers kept pushing terrorists Abu Sohaib, Abu Umer, Hafiz and Arshad to do more damage.

Transcript of the conversation between the handlers and the terrorists went like this: "Make sure you save enough ammunition for later use. The General is happy and asks you to do whatever you think appropriate. Do not be afraid…think about your last moments…it’ll be wonderful! Think of the beautiful end and pray to Allah for mercy."

Outside, it was a war zone. Security forces provided the outer cordon for the NSG commandos with hundreds of media teams glued to the action.

Major General AK Gupta (Retd) of the NSG said, "In our operations we had to keep in mind that in such big buildings we aren’t sure what’s behind each closed door, and there is no way that you tactically time frame. That was one of our biggest challenges."

November 27, 2008 | 0730 hrs IST, Trident

At The Trident, a banner hanging from a window had a gut-wrenching plea for help. Inside, hundreds of guests were holed up in their rooms.

Trident employee Dinaz Sharma recounted the horrifying moments, "They were shooting at point blank at everyone. So I knew something was wrong. I had to close the door first thing to safeguard my guests. While I was closing the door a shot was passed and the bullet passed my hand."

Meanwhile, several guests in the Trident were taken hostage by terrorists Fahadullah and Abdul Rehman and forced up to the higher floors.

Former chief secretary officer of the Trident Cdr S Nagmote recalled, "There were grenade blasts after every 10-15-20-30 minute. They had come with God knows how many grenades, there bags were full of it. We have camera in the Oberoi lobby and every time there used to be a grenade blast that camera used to go blurred."

At 0900 hrs IST the NSG began a day-long rescue operation.

"I called the guests and told them that I’m present in the hotel. The hotel has the protection of the NSG. Keep the doors closed and do not open it till I give you the details," Nagmote said.

November 27, 2008 | 0830 hrs IST, Nariman House

The Jewish Centre siege at Nariman House was still on.

Terrorists Babar and Nasir had tried negotiating with the Israeli Embassy but it had yielded nothing. Their Pakistani handlers tried to keep their morale high.

"Do a good job. Bet the support for your partner. Keep your morale high and say your prayers," the handlers told the terrorists.

The NSG had by then reached congested by-lanes around Nariman House.

At 1045 hrs IST a lull in the firing was broken by a child crying. It was Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka’s two-year-old son Moshe, clinging onto his nanny Sandra Samuel who had escaped the Chabad House.

"Frankly speaking I don’t know what I was thinking. I just picked-up the baby and ran. When I picked him up, he was quiet. That is why I could bring him out," Sandra said remembering the tarrying moments.

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November 27, 2008 | 1200 hrs IST, The Trident

Fifty Black Cat commandos had made it to the top of the 21-floor Trident by noon. On the rooftop were the bodies of six guests who were killed in cold blood. Clearly, they were up against cold, highly trained killers.

"I would say, they (the terrorists) were highly trained. In addition, their battle craft and battle drills were like an absolute trained soldier. Their use of ground, the pillars, the way they fired. In fact, they could sustain for that long. So that spoke of a very high level of training," Colonel GS Pathania of the NSG said.

One by one, the NSG began securing every room on every floor. However, some scared and anxious guests refused to open their rooms, not believing it was the commandos.

As the sun began to set, huge flames were reported from the Trident. It appeared that the 13th or 14th floor was on fire. It was being estimated about 200 people were still trapped inside.

November 27, 2008 | 1230 hrs IST, Taj Hotel

At the Taj, too, room by room searches were on. The NSG still didn’t have a clear idea of the number of terrorists and they had 365 rooms to check.

"Taj in all has about 500 rooms, each room to enter and clear takes upto four-five minutes. The length of the corridor of Taj is 1.8 kilometer. The area the Taj is covering is 4,91,000 square feet," Pathania explained.

Around 1600 hrs IST at the Taj, two loud explosions were heard. The terrorists’ handlers knew the commandos had begun attacking. At 1715 hrs IST fresh fires broke out.

As portions of the hotel were secured, batches of guests began emerging and many were wounded. Despite the attack, 400 people had so far managed to escape.

"I felt it was my last day. But I got saved by providence. If I was part of the gang ahead of us I would have been shot. I knew a lady ahead of us, a naval officer’s wife who didn’t make it," Dr Prashant Mangeshikar, a survivor, recalled.

November 27, 2008 | 1900 hrs IST, Taj, Trident and Nariman House

By 1900 hrs IST, Operation Black Tornado was peaking at The Taj, The Trident and Nariman House. But the orders were clear for the terrorists – no surrender.

Instructions flowed by the minute on how to out-think the NSG.

At the Trident, another loud explosion was heard followed by a huge fire. Meanwhile, at 1000 hrs IST another fire broke out at the Taj aimed specifically at slowing the rescue efforts.

November 28, 2008 | 0730 hrs IST, Nariman House

By the 28th morning, Babar and Nasir were getting tired and scared as they heard the roar of an Army chopper.

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"Militarily speaking Nariman House was in a thickly populated congested area. It had high rise buildings with high tension wires around, high wind factor in area of operation, with hostile fire. So it was a great tactical maneuver," Pathania said.

By then the NSG was air-dropping commandos onto the roof of Nariman House to storm the building. And around 0800 hrs IST, snipers had surrounded Nariman House. Heavy fire was being exchanged when suddenly Commando Gajendra Singh got hit. He later succumbed to his wounds.

Major General AK Gupta of the NSG said, "When you take casualties that’s most important and challenging for the commander because you see your colleague being affected. A lot of emotions come into your mind and at the same time you have to continue with your operations."

November 28, 2008 | Taj and Trident Hotels

As more floors of the Taj and Trident were being secured by the NSG, more guests were being brought out with many of them being foreigners. By 1330 hrs IST, over 150 guests had been rescued at the Trident.

But soon there was a wave of shock. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was leading one of the teams inside the Taj, was killed in an exchange of fire.

Meanwhile, at the Trident, the NSG had finally trapped Fahadullah and Abdul Rahman in a room on the 18th floor. Officials soon confirmed that the operation at the Trident was over and that the hotel was finally secure.

By 1600 hrs IST, the battle at the two remaining locations intensified. Nine blasts had rocked the Taj in less than 30 minutes.

The NSG was engaging the terrorists at the Ballroom when suddenly a spray of bullets came in the direction of the media contingent, which was outside the Taj Hotel. A news agency reporter was hit.

November 28, 2008 | 1900 hrs IST, Nariman House

By 1800 hrs IST, the NSG blasted a wall inside Nariman House and had pinned the terrorists to the third floor.

Inside the bodies of five hostages were found. Among them were Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka. An hour later, the NSG stormed the third floor where Babar and Nasir were holed up.

By 2000 hrs IST the NSG declared Nariman House liberated and the terrorists dead.

November 29, 2008 | 0030 hrs IST onwards, Taj Hotel

The Taj was now the only location where terrorists were holding out. The battle continued through the night of November 28 and into the morning of 29.

At 0700 hrs IST, the media was asked to step back. Most knew the end was near.

By 0840 hrs IST all four terrorists inside the Taj had been killed. The Taj had been liberated after a long war.

Tears of success were seen all around. The 60-hour siege of Mumbai had finally ended.

It was the longest anti-terror operation ever in India and as the NSG commandos marched out, they said they had just done their job.

"We came in for a particular job. So in the end of it all, it was a great sense of relief. Not because the operation was over but because we were able to save many lives," Major General Gupta said.

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