The operation at the Taj Hotel proved to be one in which we had to proceed in a slow, calibrated manner. There were many problems we faced. Each and every room and floor had to be searched and cleared and many of the rooms were found locked. This could have been done either by the hotel staff or the guests themselves.

“We had to make sure that each and every room was cleared before we proceeded to secure an upper floor. This proved to be very time-consuming.

“Then there was the problem of evacuation. By afternoon we had sanitised three floors and had located seven dead bodies. These bodies could not be left behind and had to be dispatched to hospitals even as the combing operations were in progress by commando teams. We also found some people in an unconscious condition and these people had to be rushed to hospital.

“I myself was on location at the Taj Hotel. What we saw on entry was huge smashed window panes, a lot of upturned furniture and security guards of the hotel manning several vantage points of the hotel. There were about 140 hostages and most of them were rescued and escorted out.

“Till evening it was still unclear how many hostages remained at the hotel since teams were still moving to the upper floors. But estimates were that 30-40 people were still inside and facing a hostage-like situation.

“It will be wrong to say that the NSG moved into the operational area in Mumbai late. In fact, the decision to send in the NSG was taken in Delhi as soon as the situation began to look as one requiring storming by a commando force.

... contd.