Blessing of the Traffic Jam and How Indian Media helped Terrorists planning (#mumbai)

India Today reports that the Mumbai attack has been most amazing in terms of its precision and perfect planning.

The taxi that blew up in Bombay/Mumbai was really meant for the airport!  It had enough ammunition to bring down a dome.  The driver of the taxi, FORTUNATELY, did take a shorter route of a slip road but instead went onto a flyover and got stuck in the red light.

The passengers of the taxi were very angry.. they wanted the driver to cut through the red light.. and made him move through it.. which he did.  But that precious wait at the red light proved to be very serendipitous for many.

The taxi blast was planned to coincide with the attacks on Taj and Oberoi!  Such was the perfection in planning.

It seems that more than two dozen or so terrorists had support of “field officers” who had mingled in the crowd and reporting to the main protagonists.  IN fact some were in different hideouts and sitting watching TV and reporting real time details on the planning being done, the forces being brought in.. how far they were.. etc.  That helped the terrorists to stay a step ahead of the Indian security forces!  Ultimately the hotel management was forced to cut off cable TV, but that would NOT have stopped the feeds in from the “field officers” based on reporting of the Indian Media…

The presence of TV crew, many of whom  quoted their sources to tell readers about impending action by security forces, came in handy for the terrorists, at least some of whom are reported to have used satellite phones. With TV reporters dishing out exclusives about the actions that the forces were contemplating, it appeared that the terrorists were always a step ahead. The frustration boiled over and the official agencies had to finally ask the hotel management to disconnect TV cables.