Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08MUMBAI553
2008-11-29 11:47:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Mumbai
Cable title:  

SITREP #8: CLEAN-UP CONTINUES AT TAJ; CITY BEGINS TO RETURN

Tags:  ASEC PTER PGOV PREL IN 
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DE RUEHBI #0553/01 3341147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 291147Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL MUMBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6762
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 8000
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 1924
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 0816
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0123
RHHJJPI/PACOM IDHS HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MUMBAI 000553 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DS/ER/CC
DS FRONT OFFICE
DS/IP/SCA
DS/DSS/ITA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PTER PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: SITREP #8: CLEAN-UP CONTINUES AT TAJ; CITY BEGINS TO RETURN
TO NORMAL

MUMBAI 00000553 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MUMBAI 000553

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DS/ER/CC
DS FRONT OFFICE
DS/IP/SCA
DS/DSS/ITA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PTER PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: SITREP #8: CLEAN-UP CONTINUES AT TAJ; CITY BEGINS TO RETURN
TO NORMAL

MUMBAI 00000553 001.2 OF 003



1. (SBU) Since the ending of tactical operations at the Taj
Palace Hotel by National Security Guard (NSG) forces, access to
the Taj Hotel has been slow. Police told RSO teams at the hotel
that there is still unexploded ordinance in the hotel. There
were several explosions in the hotel as late as 1:30 pm. One
senior police officer told RSO that bodies are present on every
floor in the Heritage wing and, when pressed, estimated there
were 40-50 more bodies. According to the hotel's COO, the
police have only fully cleared the main lobby, and RSO and
Legatt teams do not expect to receive access until at least
nighttime. Around 10:30 local time, the Taj Management and
Group Chairman Ratan Tata was allowed access to the hotel. A
hotel source told Congenoffs that the sixth floor of the
Heritage wing has been gutted by fires.



2. (SBU) The Consul General traveled to the Taj Palace and
Oberoi hotels around 2 pm to pay his condolences to hotel
managers and staffs. At the Taj, the CG expressed his
condolences to Taj General Manager K.S. Kang, who lost his wife
and two children in the attacks (but was still working). The
Taj management told a Consular officer that they have an arrival
manifest from November 25, which they were using to identify
possible guests. (Most of the Taj's occupancy records were
destroyed in the fighting or is unavailable.) At the Oberoi,
the General Manager told the CG that there were 32 persons were
killed: ten staff - one Thai national and nine Indians - and 22
guests. Of the guests, there were three Amcits, one
Singaporean, and one Japanese. Nine people were injured, of
which two are Americans. Separately, the spouses of the two
injured Amcits met with Congenoffs and praised the response of
the Indian authorities and Consulate during the crisis. The
Amcits plan to take up offers to speak to major U.S. media
outlets, possibly in the coming days.



3. (SBU) According to S. Jadhav of Mumbai's disaster management
cell, the death toll has risen to 195, with the number of
injured revised downward to 295. (An estimated 70 to 80 patients
able to pay for medical treatment have shifted to private

hospitals, so some injured may have been double counted.)
Overall, however, much of the city has returned to normal;
respite from Mumbai's infamous traffic jams is over, residents
are celebrating weddings, and shops and markets are open.
However, Delta and KLM/Northwest Airlines have cancelled all
outbound flights from Mumbai for the next few days.


Who Are the Terrorists?
--------------



4. (SBU) Government of Maharashtra officials have acknowledged
that police captured one attacker on the night of Wednesday,
November 26, who is believed to be a Pakistani citizen.
According to unconfirmed reports in the media, who cite
confidential police sources, this attacker is Azam Amir Kasav,
21, from Faridkot in Pakistani Punjab. According to the report,
Kasav was one of the two men who attacked CST station, Cama
hospital, killing at least 47 people; these two later stole a
car, shot Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)chief Hemant Karkare and
others, and were intercepted by Mumbai police while they were
fleeing in Karkare's vehicle. The report said that Kasav
pretended to be dead, until the police discovered he was alive,
but injured.



5. (SBU) Kasav allegedly told the police that were ten
assailants in total, who were asked to "kill till their last
breath." Each assailant was given two automatic weapons, eight
grenades, ammunition and dry fruits. Reportedly, Kasav told
police that the group started from Karachi, Pakistan in a ship
and then hijacked Indian coastguard and fishing boats by killing
those on board, finally reaching Mumbai via speedboats and

MUMBAI 00000553 002.2 OF 003


rubber dinghies. After landing in Mumbai, they split into teams
of two and four to attack the four targets - CST station, two
the hotels, and Nariman House. News stories indicate that the
picture of one of the terrorists running and carrying a gun is
Kasav. Other unconfirmed electronic media reports say that the
Taj hotel management told the police that some attackers might
have worked as interns in the hotel; however, the Taj management
has denied this. Others in the media have speculated that some
of the terrorists had already checked into the hotels with
additional weapons to await the arrival of the other attackers.


Coverage Muddied by Lack of Information
--------------



6. (SBU) The coverage of these terrorist attacks by the Indian
media was like any other media event; breathless, aggressive,
speculative, and quick to report rumor. The inaccuracy was
exacerbated by the lack of reliable official media communication
by the state or federal government, or the police, NSG forces,
or Army. Media persons relied on comments from police on the
scene or personal contacts in the security forces or government,
many of whom did not have the complete picture of ongoing
operations. In addition, public comments from senior security
and government officials often contradicted one another,
especially regarding the status of operations at the Taj Hotel.
Journalists besieged Congenoffs at the incident sites,
complaining that no Indian officials were providing any
information; while the media was kept behind a basic perimeter
at the sites, some could easily interact with consular officials
at assistance areas. With dozens of young television news
networks competing for viewers, there is tremendous pressure to
scoop the other journalists and report things quickly, whether
accurate or not.



7. (SBU) Most violent events in India begin and end quickly, and
rarely involve security forces higher than local police. With
these terrorist attacks, however, central paramilitary forces
were called in to dislodge motivated terrorists holed up in
hotels with dozens of stairwells, exits, and rooms; lasting
nearly 60 hours, this was no easy operation. The length of the
operation, however, and the lack of media points of contact -
not to mention liaison people for foreign missions - gave ample
opportunity for misinformation and panic to spread. These
attacks clearly expose the Indian government agencies' lack of
coordination in sharing information with each other, as well as
with media and diplomatic missions.


Mumbaikars Digest the Tragedy
--------------



8. (U) Today, vernacular and English language papers emphasized
the population's sense of unease after the attacks, in the city
of Mumbai, as well as the country as a whole. "The usual talk
of resilience and bouncing back somehow rings hollow this time,"
wrote Kumar Ketkar, editor of the Marathi language newspaper
Loksatta. Siddharth Bhatia, editor of the newspaper DNA, said
"First, not since the 1993 communal riots and bombings has South
Mumbai been affected by this type of violence. The problems
that have taken place since have affected North and Central
Mumbai, but posh South Mumbai has been untouched. Second, the
buildings attacked - Leopold Cafi, the Taj Mahal Palace and
Oberoi hotels, and CST - are iconic for Mumbaikers." Indeed,
the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is one of India's most iconic, modern
structures, a hotel built by Indians, for Indians, over a
century ago. (When a British hotel refused him entry, the
founder of the Tata Sons, Jamsedji Tata, built the Taj Palace
Hotel after vowing to build the grandest hotel in India.) As a
result, opinion writers believe that Mumbai's elite would now
feel a connection to these terrorist attacks.

MUMBAI 00000553 003.2 OF 003





9. (SBU) Newspapers and columnists continue to convey general
anger against Pakistan for the attacks, but so far, writers have
not advocated any clear steps against its neighbor. In the town
of Nanded in central Maharashtra, BJP activists burnt effigies
of "Pakistan," and in Latur (Chief Minister Deshmukh's home
district),Congress activists burnt effigies of "terrorism."
Congenoffs at the Taj site report that about 40-50 activists
from two political parties, the Samajwadi Party and the
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),have staged rallies to
celebrate the successful operations of Indian security forces.
NCP activists also chanted "Down with Pakistan." Mumbaikers
circulated a SMS mocking Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader
Raj Thackeray for being unable to help the city when tragedy
struck; the message pointed out that it was the NSG forces,
composed of outsiders from North and South India, who helped the
city in its hour of need.
FOLMSBEE