10.25 pm

About half an hour after entering the Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, Kasab and Khan take the north end foot overbridge of the splendid heritage structure to cross over to the pavement on the other side of DN Road — outside the Times of India Building. From there, they open fire again across the road, in the direction of the railway station, perhaps to ward off anybody who might dare to chase after them.

Kasab and Khan then walk briskly into the lane leading to the back entrance of Cama Hospital, where they kill two security personnel, Bhanu Narkar and Baban Ugade. They then open indiscriminate fire in the employees’ quarters.

The terrorist spend the next five to 10 minutes shooting randomly and lobbing grenades. They pass through to the front entrance as they shoot, towards Mahapalika Marg.

Continuing to fire indiscriminately, they climb up to the fourth and fifth floors which house the maternity ward in the five-storey hospital. One of the two maternity wards is locked from the inside and the other has been fastened by women occupying it, using a cloth.

Twenty-five women, along with newborn babies and three other men lock themselves inside a room within the maternity ward, refusing to open despite several threats from the terrorists.

10.30-10.45 pm

In the meantime, in quick succession, the police control room has received reports of two massive blasts, one in Vile Parle and the other outside the Dockyard Road station. Two taxis have been blown to smithereens. The Mumbai Police would later confirm bombs had been placed under the front seats of both vehicles. A woman dies in the Dockyard explosion. The police later give clean chits to the owners of the two taxis.

... contd.