Click to play videoMumbai: Maharashtra Director General of Police Anami Narayan Roy has said that there is no hostage situation at the Taj Hotel even as at least six terrorists are still holed up in the two hotels where commandos are trying to flush them out.
"There is no hostage situation at Taj Hotel. Guests are still there in hotel rooms. But the possibility of terrorists inside the hotel cannot be ruled out. Search operation is on right now along with NSG," Roy said.
National Security Guard (NSG) Director General Jyoti Krishan Dutt said the commandos are clearing the Taj floor by floor.
"This is slightly complicated operation and our job is to ensure safety of people trapped inside. We are moving in floor by floor and ensuring that nobody is inside the rooms. Some rooms are locked from inside which we are asking them to vacate. There are dead bodies and injured on the floors. We are sending them to hospital," Dutt said.
He also declined to give a time frame for the operation.
"It's difficult to say how long we will take to take situation under control. But I'm positive that things are under control and no further damage is expected," he said.
"We can't move in fast in both the hotels because we are not sure that how many terrorist are hiding on the top floors. We don't want to be caught by their sniper bullets. We suspect that in both the hotels that there at least six terrorist but there is no confirmation on the exact figure," he added.
Officials also confirmed that six dead bodies have been recovered from Taj Hotel till now.
At least four terrorists are holed up in the Taj Hotel and 40 to 50 guests still trapped, a senior army officer had said on Thursday morning.
"In this area there are four to five terrorists," Major General RK Hooda, General Officer Commanding of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat, who is at the Taj Hotel, said.
There are an estimated 40 to 50 guests still trapped in the hotel, he added.
Earlier, NSG commandos entered the Taj Intercontinental and Oberoi hotels on Thursday morning and engaged terrorists in a fierce gunbattle. Army and Navy commandos are also inside the two hotels.
One Navy commando has been killed in the encounter with the terrorists.
Many guests have been evacuated from Taj Hotel and police have removed all journalists outside the Gateway of India area outside the hotel.
Some guests reported hearing three-four rounds of gunshots in Taj Hotel.
About 25 people are hostage at Oberoi Hotel including some foreigners.
Taj helpline numbers: 022 - 66574322, 66574372, 1800111825. Oberoi helpline number: 011-23890606
Also 8 kgs of RDX was found outside the Bade Miyan Restaurant near the Taj Hotel. A bomb has also been defused near Vidhan Bhawan.
Four Members of Parliament and at least 100 tourists are stranded inside Taj Hotel. The Anti-Terrorism Squad is already inside the hotel to flush out the terrorists.
Bhupendrasinh Solanki, BJP MP from Godhra in Gujarat, NN Krishnan Das of CPI-M from Palghat in Kerala, Mani Tripathi, a BSP parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh and one more MP from Maharashtra were visiting Mumbai as members of the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation.
The Taj Hotel released a press statement and promised all help to the authorities.
"The Taj is very much a symbol of India and we are actually seeing a battle on and we will be defiant. We are monitoring the development of the unfortunate situation unfolding in South Mumbai, in and around our hotel and are fully cooperating with the police and the government authorities to ensure the safety and security of all our guests and staff. That is all we can say at the moment and we would like to channelise all our effort and energy to ensure a speedy normalisation of the situation as best as we can. We will rebuild every inch that has been damaged in this attack and bring back the Taj to its full glory," the statement read.
At least 101 people have been killed in the terror attacks, police said on Thursday.
"At least six foreigners have been killed and the death figure has gone up to 101 now," Ramesh Tayde, a senior police officer was quoted as saying by Reuters. "We have a figure of 287 people injured," he said.
The attacks begin at about 2130 hrs IST with firing at Cafe Leopold, a popular restaurant in the Colaba area of South Mumbai. Cafe Leopold is a place frequented by foreign tourists.
At least 101 people have been killed and over 280 injured in what is one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Shortly after, at least two men armed with AK-47s open fire in the passenger hall of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Station (CTS). They also lobbed grenades in which at least 30 people were injured.
At least four-five people were killed at Cama Hospital, situated close to CST. Terrorrists had taken patients hostage inside the hospital but Army commandos managed to resuce them.
A fierce gunbattle is also taking near the Metro Cinema, near CST. Terrorists also hijacked a police van and fired indiscriminately, injuring several people.
A blast has been also reported in a taxi under a flyover in suburban Vile Parle while another bomb went off in a taxi in Mazegaon dockyard road.
Two terrorists were gunned down by police in Girgaum while they were on the run in a Skoda vehicle.
(With inputs from CNN-IBN Correspondents Yogita Limaye, Toral Varia, Rohit Chandavarkar, Rakha Shetty, George Koshi and PTI)
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