Taj, Oberoi ignored pre-26/11 alerts: Inquiry rpt

New Delhi, Dec 29: Besides exposing the lapses on the part of Maharashtra state security establishments, the Ram Pradhan committee of inquiry report on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks has also criticised Taj and Oberoi hotels for ignoring the warnings before the attacks.

The probe panel, set up to investigate the series of events leading to the attacks along with the way the 60-hour long attack was handled, has reportedly pointed out that it was lack of police security outside the hotels which allowed the gunmen to enter the buildings.

Taj and Oberoi hotels along with Leopold cafe were the worst affected spots during the Nov 2008 attacks.

These hotels were not prepared to thwart the attack despite their managements being informed about specific intelligence warnings that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was planning to target them, says the report of the probe committee.

A report published by a new agency, which claims to have a copy of the report, said that during the investigation the committee found that three sites were specifically named in different intelligence tip-offs.

'In this context, the committee is constrained to observe that tragically, the Taj and the Oberoi managements did not implement certain important security advice given by (police) because of their own policy perspective for the hospitality industry,' states the report.

The panel also found that there was very little police coverage near these sites at the time of the attacks despite warnings well ahead in time.

OneIndia News