Mumbai terror siege is over: What next?

Shivraj Patil, blamed in the past for his ineffectiveness in quelling home-grown militancy and preventing terrorists from infiltrating Indian borders, tendered his resignation today, saying he did not want other "staff and officials to be made scapegoats" and was relieved that a "heavy burden was lifted" off his shoulders. Patil said his resignation was "voluntary" and he was not under pressure from any government quarters.

Patil has come under scathing for his "inept" handling of Mumbai's terror attack, which left at least 29 foreigners, including five Israelis and four Americans, and several top business executives, including Ashok Kapur, the non-executive chairman of private sector lender Yes Bank, dead, with Opposition BJP leaders demanding his resignation. On Saturday, at the Congress Working Committee meeting, which was convened to discuss the Mumbai attacks and evolve a consensus on how to combat terror, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Ministers like P. Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal and H.R. Bhardwaj have also reportedly expressed their displeasure over the way the counter operation was carried out. Strong action is needed in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes and accountability has to be ensured at the higher as well as lower levels, they demanded.

Government sources said Patil's resignation has been accepted and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will take charge of the Home Ministry. However, Chidambaram will no longer hold the charge of the Finance Ministry. It said the prime minister will hold the additional charge of Finance.

Along with Patil, national security adviser, M.K. Narayanan has also quit but his resignation was not accepted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Talks are also going on that Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil may be next to go. But both the leaders have ruled out quitting. Incidentally, R.R. Patil has been criticized heavily for his insensitive remark which he made on Saturday after commandos and elite NSG forces announced that all the militants were killed. "TSuch small incidents happen in big cities. It is nothing to worry," Patil told reporters on Saturday, little realizing his faux pas.

Intelligence Bureau director, Home Secretary, head of the Coast Guard, and other bureaucrats are likely to be sacked.

Meanwhile, the Indian government said it has "enough proof" that the terrorists in Mumbai were in constant touch with their leaders in Pakistan and were giving updates on their every move and taking orders.

Investigations have revealed that the call data recovered from seized satellite phones used by the terrorists have been tracked back to Pakistan.

According to Maharashtra ATS sources, the terrorists were instructed to kill till their own death and most were given extensive marine commando training for three months at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir before the terror attack.

According to the sources, the attacks were carried out in clinical precision and the terrorists, who were well trained, financed and prepared, did a recce of the city 2 months back.

The terrorists, who came in two batches by boats, were equipped to the teeth with sophisticated automatic guns, grenades, satellite phones, plastic explosives and digital maps of Mumbai to make them understand the exact geographical locations of the targets.

The terrorists were also drugged due to which they could carry on the standoff against India's security forces for so long without getting tired, the sources said.

"The terrorists were all well-built and at the peak of their health, aged between 24 and 30, and were heavily trained in military tactics. The brazenness of this attack has taken everyone by surprise," confided a marine commando to the media, on conditions of anonymity.

"At times we found them matching us in combat and movement. It was their high degree of training that was prolonging the operation each hour. They are either army regulars or have done a long stint of commando training," he said.

Though a little known terror outfit called the Deccan Mujahideen is claiming responsibility for the attack, initial clues point the finger at militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, which operates from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with alleged backings from Pakistan.

"According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible for Mumbai terror attacks," Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters, adding that a captured terrorist has been identified as a Pakistani.

"They [Pakistan] can say what they want, but we have no doubt that the terrorists had come from Pakistan," said Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal. "We have evidence of their nationalities. We will reveal everything soon."

OTHER FACTS ON MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACK:

· The insurers are expected to take a big hit from the terror attack with industry experts saying the terror attack is likely to wipe out over 70 percent of the Rs.700 crore terrorism risk corpus created over the last six years with contributions from insurance companies. Experts are claiming that the insurance claim of Mumbai's 105-year old iconic property, the 565-room Taj Mahal Palace and Towers hotel, which was damaged by the fire and shooting, may be as high as Rs.500 crore. The insurers are also reportedly mulling to raise the premium paid for terrorism insurance.

· The Wednesday attack is the deadliest terrorist attack in India since the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai which killed 257 people.

· Several of Mumbai's top cops died, trying to save innocent lives, including NSG commandos Maj. Gen. Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havilar Gajender Singh, Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Mumbai's additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte, and celebrated encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.

· Pakistan, who has denied role in Mumbai attacks, said its top intelligence (ISI) chief will not be going to India to aid the neighbor in its investigations, as initially planned. Instead, Pakistan will be sending a lower-level intelligence officer to India. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has also cut short his visit to India, "distressed" by the current situation.

· The three-day long Mumbai terror attack has pushed India to be among the 20 most dangerous places to visit on Earth. According to The Telegraph, India has been listed alongside places like Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mexico, Thailand and South Africa in this list. Chechnya, Jamaica, Sudan, Colombia, Haiti, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Burundi, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Lebanon have also been named among the 20 "most dangerous places to visit on Earth."

· The Mumbai attacks have led chief ministers of most states to believe that NSG forces should not only be deployed in the nation's capital, but, across the country. The central government has been criticized for allowing NSG forces to be stationed only in New Delhi as the elite security forces took nearly 10 hours to fly down to Mumbai and respond to the terror attacks.

· The latest terror carnage may swing votes BJP's way in state polls and the Congress-led UPA government at the center may also face difficulty keeping its power in May 2009 elections.

· Mumbai deputy Chief Minister and State Home Minister R.R. Patil said the terrorists carried enough arms, ammunition and explosives with the intention of killing over "5000 people" in Mumbai.

· Ten terrorists carried out the Mumbai attacks. Nine were killed by the security forces and 1, Ajmal Amir Kasab, 21, has been captured. The captured terrorist has reportedly confessed to booking rooms in Taj while another had worked at the Oberoi in the past.

· Security forces have recovered two live bombs - each weighing 8 kg, which were supposedly intended to blow the iconic Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel.

· Restoring the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel may take up to 12 months and cost about Rs.500 crore, experts on structural engineering and architecture said. The services of professional institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) may also be required, they said. However, money is not an object to Indian Hotels Ltd, the owners of the property. "We are not just determined, but completely committed, to rebuilding the institution. We will restore it to its fullest glory," R.K. Krishna Kumar, vice chairman, Indian Hotels, said.

· The sixth floor of Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel will continue to haunt guests. The sixth floor, which was completely burnt down in the 60-hour siege, housed distinguished guests like Times of India resident editor and food critic Sabina Sehgal Saikia, the hotel's general manager Karambir Kang's wife and his two sons, and Greek tycoon Andreas Liveras, who all perished in the attack.

· This is the first time terrorists have targeted foreigners, especially Western tourists, businessmen, and landmark and heritage buildings. Intelligence agencies claim the terrorists' main motive was to hit out at India's political and economic interest in a 9/11-like attack. "We did not received any demand from any of the terrorists," J.K. Dutt, director general, NSG, said.

· The commandos managed to kill the terrorists holed up in the five-storey Nariman House on Friday but failed to rescue 5 Israeli hostages, including including the Rabbi of the Jewish center Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka. However, the couple's two year old child had a miraculous escape with his nanny. Israeli authorities claim the rescue operation was botched up. Nariman House or Chabad House is home to the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch and is an important port of call for thousands of Jewish travelers visiting Mumbai each year. The captured terrorist, Kasab said their mission specifically targeted Israelis to avenge the "atrocities" against Palestinians.

· To avoid being tracked, the terrorists had used the anonymous "remailer" service - which is the most secure and least traceable way to send an email - instead of the normal Internet email service availed on earlier occasions. According to investigating officials, contrary to the normal Internet service which can easily trace the origin of an email through IP address of a particular computer, the remailer service not only deletes the IP address but also all details including the sources from where someone might have requested the secret service.

· The railway staff at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station prevented a massacre of innocent people by using the public address system to guide passengers to safety when they spotted terrorists opening fire.

· Sister and brother-in-law of Bollywood actor Ashish Chaudhury (of Fight Club, Dhamaal and EMI fame) died in the terrorist attack. They were staying at the Oberoi Trident hotel.