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Mumbai: One year has passed since Mumbai 26/11 terror attack killed 166 people and brutally injured many. Terrorists took several people hostage in two luxury hotels of the city, Taj Hotel and hotel Oberoi Trident. Nariman House, the Jewish religious headquarter in the country, was also targeted by the terrorists. Survivors said that the memories of the gory firings had still not faded away but maintained that security has definitely increased in the city with even VIPs being checked and questioned by security guards.
Farhan Jehani, co-owner of the 138-year-old Leopold Café at Colaba, a witness and a survivor, says, “The scars of the terror attacks are still afresh in my mind. I have buried the past behind me and I am moving ahead with a positive attitude but with little precaution.”
After the terror attack, he has installed CCTVs in the premises, has hired private security guards and also has installed metal detectors to keep a check on the belongings of his customers. The cafe was an early site of gunfire and grenade explosions during the 2008 Mumbai attacks by terrorists. The restaurant was extensively damaged during the attacks. The cafe was reopened for business only after five days after the attack.
Corporation Bank CMD JM Garg was on his way to the Oberoi for a board meeting that day, but stayed away when he heard about the firings. On security condition post 26/11 he said exhaustive training should be given to security guards. He said, “The security has definitely been beefed up in Mumbai after 26/11. But, after that incident even VIPs are being questioned by the security guards posted at five-star hotels in Mumbai. The guards are not trained enough so as to identify VIPs. Consequently, VIPs are questioned and their belongings are scanned on a regular basis, which often turns to be embarrassing for them. Hence, exhaustive training for security guards is required in order to avoid such embarrassing situations.”
Eric von Hippel, economist and professor at MIT Sloan School of Management, who was at the Oberoi hotel on the day, remembers how he managed to exit the hotel at 11 pm on November 27and didn’t even know that there was terror attack. He said, “I woke up in my hotel room at about 10:30 that night to the sound of quite a few explosions and gunshots and confusion coming from somewhere in the hotel. Smoke soon started...
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