Sunday, December 28, 2008

Terrorists sexually Humiliated guests before killing them



D
isturbing photographs made available to this newspapers by police sources indicate that several of the guests at the Taj Mahal Hotel during the siege November 26 were sexually humiliated by the terrorists and then shot dead.

Police sources confirm that even as the terrorists were engaged in a fierce combat with NSG commandos, they were humiliating their hostages before ending their terrifying ordeal.

Foreign guests were their particular target. Eight of the 31 killed at the Taj were foreign nationals.

Photographs taken by a police forensic team after the hotel was sanitised yield a gruesome picture of some of the guests in the nude.

These bodies were found away from the hotel’s swimming pool which makes it clear that they were not those guests who were taken hostage from the poolside.

“Even the Rabbi and his wife at Nariman House were sexually assaulted and their genitalia mutilated,” said a senior officer of the investigating team, not wishing to be quoted.

“We have CCTV footage which reveals how these terrorists forced some of the guests who were holed up in restuarants to strip, but there is not evidence of rape,” he added.

These pictures, most of which we have refrained from printing, are in the records of the police and are now part of the investigation.

Birdflu Spreads To New Places In Assam

Guwahati, Dec 27 : Bird flu has spread to new areas in Assam where culling of poultry has been going on since November 27.

Over five lakh chicken and ducks have been culled in the state.

Sources in the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department said cases of fresh bird flu attack were reported at Manahkuchi of Hajo and Chayani Barduar block in Kamrup (Rural) district, where the disease was first detected.

Other fresh areas to be hit by the virus are Tihu- Barama of Baksa district, Chachaligaon Burachowk village in Nagaon district, Rangamati, Aurpakmoniari Tiniali in Kamrup (Metro) district and Doloigaon Uzanpara in Bongaigaon district, the sources said.Culling operations were initiated in the three-km radius area of the new bird flu-hit notified centres, while it continued in the previously notified areas.

With seven new locations notified, so far 19 epicentres were officially stated to be affected by avian flu in seven districts of Assam.

Nearly 150 villages have been declared bird flu-hit, for which 1,720 rapid response teams were deployed.

Almost two lakh eggs and 14,000 kg of bird feed have been destroyed since the beginning of culling.

Culling, mopping and disinfection operations were completed in nine centres of Kharghuli and Khanapara in Guwahati, Dibrugarh town, Rajabazar, Sarpara, Patgaon, Kathla, Katajhar and Bejerajalah.

Residents of Nalibari village in Chirang district resisted culling operations but veterinary officials were confident of convincing them to allow the anti-bird flu operation.

Compensation worth Rs 1.35 crore had so far been paid to the poultry owners, the sources said.

The affected districts are Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup (Rural), Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Dibrugarh and Bongaigaon.