‘They had enough ammunition to kill 5,000 people’

The police confirmed that the terrorists had specifically targeted Nariman House at Colaba Market as it housed a synagogue and a Jewish family.

“It is obvious that they chose Nariman House since they knew a Jewish family lived there. Their task was to create an international incident with global ramifications. They had enough explosives and ammunition to kill 5,000 people,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria.

“We did not anticipate the magnitude of the terror attacks, and a period of half-an-hour within which we heard of the deaths of Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar as well injuries to Sadanand Date, were horrible. However, neither did the terrorists expect that the police would persistently chase them and cut them off at Girgaum Chowpatty,” said Maria.

The police have so far recovered 10 AK-56 assault rifles, ten 9 mm pistols, two explosive devices of 8 kgs which have been defused and sent for forensic analysis, and a huge cache of grenades. A satellite communication and global positioning system, along with bogus Indian student identification cards have been recovered from the two terrorists intercepted at Girgaum Chowpatty.

“We are verifying whether there was any local assistance provided to the terrorists, and are investigating the taxi explosions at Vile Parle and Dockyard Road. The group of 10 terrorists who came in from the sea in an inflatable dinghy, split into groups and headed in taxis from Machimaar Colony to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, Leopold and Nariman House. They paid these taxis, and we recovered Rs 6,200 from the two terrorists stopped at Girgaum Chowpatty. We are investigating whether these same taxis exploded in Vile Parle and Dockyard Road killing the drivers,” said Maria.

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch, which is investigating the attacks, produced Mohammed Azmal Mohammed Ameer Kasab (21), the only terrorist caught alive by the police, at a local court on Friday where he was remanded to police custody till December 11. According to the police, he is educated till the fourth standard.

Describing the terrorists as ‘highly trained’ individuals, Maria said, “While they were holed up at three different locations, they sustained themselves on almonds, raisins and dates.”

Last day of siege

• The siege of the Taj Mahal Hotel ends at around 7 am after three more gunmen are killed overnight by commandos

• All bodies removed from the Oberoi Trident; expecting another 30 from the Taj; dead include 14 policemen and 18 foreigners

• Mumbai police crime branch chief Rakesh Maria says arrested gunman Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was remanded in police custody till December 11

• Police seize 10 ak-56 rifles, 10 nine-mm pistols, two bombs of 8 kg each, satellite communication GPS system from Kasab; investigations looking at local help angle and the taxi bombs.

• Crime branch team leaves for Gujarat to probe the angle of the sea route taken by the attackers.

• As bodies piled up at the three government hospitals doctors called back from holidays to start the mammoth task of conducting autopsies and x-rays of bodies with bullet wounds