22 bodies found from Taj hotel: NSG

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November 29, 2008 21:17 IST

NSG commandos on Saturday found bodies of 22 guests and a fourth terrorist from Taj which they secured this morning after overwhelming the terrorists.

NSG Director General J K Dutt, who had in the morning said that three terrorists were killed in the operation to secure Hotel Taj, told reporters in the evening that the body of one more terrorist, who had an AK-47 rifle, was recovered.

"We have also recovered 22 bodies of either hostages or guests during the sanitising operation," he said.

Dutt also said five bodies were recovered from the site where they found the bodies of the terrorists indicating thatthe victims could have been killed by them long back.

In all, the NSG had killed eight terrorists -- four in Taj, two in Oberoi and two in Nariman House.

Replying to a question, Dutt said he was sure that no terrorist had escaped from the hotels and Nariman House after the NSG began its operations.

While two NSG personnel were killed in the operations, eight commandos were injured. Four of them have been operated upon and four received treatment, he said.

Dutt made it clear that no RDX was found by commandos but they recovered grenades, AK-47 rifles, pistols and mobile phones. He also denied recovering any other communication equipment.

He said the terrorists used hand grenades whenever they came under pressure.

The assault rifles have been taken in plastic bags for forensic examination, including that of fingerprints, he said.

Dutt said the sanitising operation would be over late tonight or early tomorrow and the hotel would be handed over to local authorities.

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