Army prepares for final push

The Army has rushed in five columns from adjoining areas to beef up its strength, ahead of a "final push" to rid posh hotels Taj Mahal hotel and Trident-Oberoi hotel in south Mumbai from the grip of "well-trained" terrorists holed up in them.

The Army personnel, forming part of the present deployment of around five columns in terror-hit south Mumbai areas, have got a boost with the arrival of the fresh batch from Pune and Nashik, highly-placed sources told PTI.

"The flushing-out operations at these hotels, being undertaken jointly with National Security Guards, may be over sooner than expected were it not for our endeavour to ensure that there is no collateral damage," the sources said.

There is a strong indication that the terrorists are from across the border, based on the description of one of the terrorists arrested at Trident-Oberoi on Thursday, the sources said.

"The terrorists are extremely well-armed. They are carrying AK-56 assault rifles and plenty of grenades. The NSG is also using a fair share of grenades to try to flush them out from hiding," the sources said.

The Army has stationed two columns at the Taj Mahal hotel, a column at Trident-Oberoi and a column each at Colaba market area and CST station. Each column has 50 Army personnel.