Mumbai: Indian Hotels, the owners of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel here, Saturday said there was no hint of any involvement of their staff members, regular or contractual, in the nearly 60-hour terror attack on the property.

"We are extending our full cooperation to the investigating authorities," said Raymond Bickson, chief executive and managing director of the company, which is part of the Tata group - India's largest industrial house.

"There is one point that I would like to make clear. We have had no indications from them (investigating authorities) that any employee or contractual staff of the hotel have been involved as part of this terrorist attack as is being reported by some media outlets," he said in a statement.

While extending condolences to the families of those who died during the ordeal, Bickson said the clear focus of Indian Hotels for the moment was to support the immediate needs of guests and staff who have been affected by the gruesome act.

"The heroic actions of our security forces have now contained the attack on the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. We are enormously saddened at the loss of life amongst the brave men who carried out this action," he said.

The process of fully assessing the internal situation cannot yet begin as the NSG (National Security Guard) are continuing their risk assessment. We will provide updates on the situation within the hotel when we can."

India's longest terror saga ended dramatically Saturday as commandos of three agencies eliminated last of the militants who had taken over the iconic Taj hotel, among other properties, killed 148 people and virtually held India's commercial capital to ransom.

Several terrorists, perhaps two dozen, had sneaked into the city by boat Wednesday, divided themselves into groups and struck at 10 places in south Mumbai, including the Taj hotel, the nearby Oberoi-Trident hotel and a Jewish centre.

 

Source : ians