NSG commandos eliminate terrorists

Mishra said the swiftly undertaken operation was not named, and had a three-pronged approach—to protect the shrine, protect the people trapped inside the complex and eliminate the terrorists.

He said, the type of adventurism shown by the gunmen proved that they were “well trained and well motivated”. Asked whether they could be local miscreants, Mishra said, “It does not seem to be.”

Mishra added the cooperation of personnel from BSF, CRPF and local police have helped undertake the mission swiftly.

Mishra said militants had taken position at a vantage location in between Sachidanand Hall and the shrine where the number of devotees were maximum. “Their target was to cause maximum harm to the civilian population including women.”

The militants were exchanging his position frequently in the sprawling lawn of the temple and occasionally firing on the security forces. The operation to flush out militants continued whole night with heavy firing from both sides.

In the exchange of fire, three NSG personnel were injured in addition to the five police personnel, police said.

NSG commandos had “walked” into the temple compound shortly after Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani visited the site on Tuesday night. Some civilians trapped in the temple complex have also been evecuated, police said.

At least two live grenades were recovered from the temple complex even as NSG and other forces have thrown in a thick security blanket. NSG personnel took out two live bomb-like grenades from the library on the right hand side of the entrance from near the exhibition hall where the militants had initially hurled it. The temple steps and premises also had blood-stains.

While temple volunteers are offering tea and snacks to NSG personnel, a large number of media personnel were in inside the temple complex.

Enemies of the country responsible: Advani

Without explicitly naming Pakistan, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said “enemies of the country” were behind the temple attack. Pakistan has condemned the assault and denied any part in it.

Witnesses reported heavy firing between the commandos and the gunmen in the early morning hours at the temple complex. Two massive blasts and more exchanges of fire followed.

Dozens of devotees and other visitors locked in various buildings in the vast temple complex to try to keep them safe were reportedly unhurt. “They are all safe,” police intelligence inspector K.K. Mysorewala told Reuters. “They just cannot be evacuated”.

The chain of events leading to the storming began as devotees gathered for evening prayers on Tuesday in the temple, which attracts two million visitors a year, when the gunmen burst in, firing at random and hurling grenades.

“About three of them barged into the temple and started firing….I managed to run and somehow escape,” said 15-year-old Vipul Soni, his clothes spattered with blood. “I’m fortunate to be alive today,” said 16-year-old Priti Nahata, who hid with a group of people in a room until the police came and told them it was safe to leave.

“It appears they (the gunmen) are very well trained in guerrilla warfare,” Superintendent of Police R.B. Brahma Bhatt said as he emerged from the complex housing a seven-foot golden idol of Lord Swaminarayan, an 18th-century saint who started the sect.

Desperate relatives crowded hospitals for word on the fate of missing family members. Hundreds of others massed at the main temple gates as first aid workers and security forces carried out bloodied bodies of the dead and wounded on stretchers.