The NCPA end of the Nariman Point, where the “Queen’s Necklace” begins, is also the closest to Hotel Trident, the fourth building from NCPA. Hemant Shankar Dhanu, a fisherman, was in the water, sailing next to the terrorists when they alighted at Badhwar Park. “I saw 10 men in the water, well equipped. Two of them returned towards Nariman Point,” he recalled. The Trident attack was timed around 9:30 pm, with two men walking in from the gate facing the sea.

Uraiyar recalls that everyone flashed the “thumbs up” sign. Two from the group walked towards the right of Prakash Pete Marg, while the others headed left. “They kept walking, crossed the road and then walked through the iron zigzag barricade,” he recalled, pointing towards the NCPA end.

A narrow lane at the end of the Badhwar Park Railway Colony leads to 4th Pasta lane, which ends at the main Colaba Market road. On the other side, stands an under-construction building which is just opposite the Nariman House.

A shopkeeper at the Pasta lane said this was the only way the terrorists could reach quickly. “It’s exactly a three- minute walk from the Macchimar Colony. There is no need to take a cab,” he said.

An official from the Israel consulate who tried to enter Nariman House while the terrorists had taken Rabbi Gavriel and wife Rivika Holtzberg as hostages, after the firing had began on Wednesday night, also said the same. “That is the shortcut, and one can quietly enter the Chhabad House without attracting too much attention,” he said.

... contd.