Mumbai: Two Taj hotels get terror threat calls from ‘LeT man in Pak’

MUMBAI: Two telephone calls, each lasting less than a minute, to Taj Group hotels in Colaba and Bandra around 12.30am on Tuesday threatening a 26/11-like terror attack have put the Mumbai Police on high alert. A police source said that both calls seem to have been made by the same person, who identified himself as a member of banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit from Pakistan, and the phone numbers were with the +92 country code, which is of Pakistan.
“We have identified the caller and verification is on. The information has been shared with the intelligence bureau and Union home ministry,” said a police official.
According to sources, the caller said that they would be carrying out an “aatanki hamla” (terror attack) like 26/11. The two calls came hours after a terror attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange building on Monday. “We have traced the calls to Pakistan and have enhanced security at both Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba and Taj Lands End in Bandra,” said police commissioner Parambir Singh.
The Taj Mahal Palace was one of the places targeted by the LeT in the November 26, 2008 terror attack, when terrorists stormed into the hotel, laid siege for over 60 hours, and killed dozens of staffers and guests, including several foreigners.
“At 12.30am, Taj Lands End received a telephone call on its board number saying the hotel would be attacked. The caller claimed to be from LeT. The call lasted for 39 seconds. A similar call was made to Taj Mahal Palace soon after. The second call lasted 45 seconds. Both calls appear to have been made by the same person. The caller spoke in Hindi,” a police officer said. The police, however, did not disclose if both the calls originated from the same number.
The two hotels have handed over the details of the calls to Mumbai Police and Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad. A senior police officer said they will take help from the Interpol to get more details about the caller.
On the night of November 26, 2008, ten Pakistani terrorists entered the city through the sea route and launched a coordinated terror attack at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Cama Hospital, Nariman House, Leopold Cafe, Taj Hotel and Oberoi-Trident Hotel, killing 166 people and injuring over 300 others. While nine of them were killed in the four-day operation, Ajmal Kasab was captured alive. He was sentenced to death at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune in 2012.