Israelis trapped even in death

“When I left New York for Mumbai I didn’t come here for the dead.

“When I left New York for Mumbai I didn’t come here for the dead. But now I am here to see to it that no autopsy is conducted on the bodies of those killed in Nariman House. Our religion does not permit autopsy or embalming of the bodies,” said Rabi Taub who had trained the two kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) supervisors killed inside the guesthouse in Colaba.

Rabi had stationed himself right outside the JJ hospital morgue on Saturday morning, unmindful of the stench of decomposing bodies that permeated the air. Later in the day, he was joined by representatives from the Israeli Consulate, a handful of bereaved family members and a team of physicians and paramedics from ZAKA, an Israeli organisation that collects bodies of victims and takes care of their burial. Most of them refused to talk to the media, as they were observing a 24-hour Sabbath. “We can’t even use our mobile phone to coordinate the arrangements here,” one of them said.

Friends of the victims said a request to hand over the bodies without conducting an autopsy was despatched by the Israeli Consulate to the Police Commissioner and Home Minister. Once this is done, ZAKA will help fly the bodies in a chartered plane, they said.

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According to JJ hospital officials, nine bodies of Israelis — five men and four women — were brought from Nariman House and elsewhere. JJ Hospital dean B M Subnis said, “We can’t do anything on our own unless the Home Ministry communicates with us. Two of the bodies have not been identified yet. If they are not claimed within 72 hours, we will have to take a decision on what to do with them.”

New York citizen Rabi Taub has known Leibish Teitelbaum and Bentzion Chroman, both holding dual citizenship of Israel and US, for 10 and two years respectively. Taub said there was confusion about the plight of the hostages ever since news of the terror attacks started trickling in. It was only on Thursday afternoon that he learnt that inhabitants of house, Chabad emissary Gavriel Holtzberg and his family, were held hostages along with other guests. “When I went to the Indian consulate in New York for my visa, senior officials there asked me if I had details about the situation at Chabad House. Before taking the flight from New York, called up the cops at Colaba who told me that the hostages have been freed. I was almost about to cancel my journey when a rabbi in Mumbai informed me that it was not true,” said Taub.

He is convinced that the terror attack on Nariman House was conducted with “inside help”. “No one, neither the police nor the locals, knew that there is a building called Nariman House with a synagogue in it at Colaba. The terrorists went for the Jews and they couldn’t have done this without inside help,” he said.

A court in Antwerp passed the order initiating the formal process of bringing Choksi back to India. But, he still has options to challenge the order passed by the lower court.

Belgian court clears fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi’s extradition to India

India3 hr ago

Mehul Choksi, a fugitive diamantaire wanted in India for a Rs 13,000 crore loan fraud case, has been cleared for extradition by a court in Antwerp, Belgium. The Indian government has assured that Choksi will be held in a specific jail complex and provided with basic amenities if extradited. Choksi's extradition proceedings have advanced in Belgium and he has the option to challenge the order.

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