Google Earth is the seventh popular Internet application tool but it is being growingly misused by terror groups to have the first glimpse of sensitive places to plot attacks without moving an inch.
Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Fahim Ahmed Ansari, arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police in Feburuary this year with maps and details of the spots hit during the recent terror attacks, in his statement had conceded that his masters showed him the maps on Google Earth to pin-point the specific targets.
The interrogation report of Fahim, who was trained at the Baitul Mujahideen camp in Pakistan in his statement said that a top Lashker commander 'Kahasa' asked him to show the spots in Mumbai on the Google Earth. "I was shown the map of Mumbai in Googleearth.com. Kahasa asked me to point out places in Mumbai he noted down and marked those places in the map," he told interrogators, adding, "I was first asked about my residence location and in-laws location in Mumbai."
Sensitive places like offices of Commissioner of Police and DGP, Gateway of India, Navy Nagar, Colaba, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mantralaya, Wankhede Stadium, Race Course, Church Gate Railway Station, Stock Exchange Building, BARC, Kalina Army Gate and other such spots were located and marked on the Google Earth Map.
Fahim, along with Sabauddin, were brought to Mumbai and remanded to police custody till December 31. They are being questioned to ascertain whether they had provided the minute details to Lashkar terrorists to help them plan the terror strike here on November 26.
Source; Agencies
Showing posts with label Taj Mahal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taj Mahal. Show all posts
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Mumbai attack: A mixed bag for insurers
The bottomlines of insurance companies that have insured the terrorist-attacked hotels in Mumbai will not be affected by property damage claims as the loss will be met from a terrorism risk pool, managed by the state-run General Insurance Corp of India (GIC), say industry officials.
The claims for property damage as well as loss of profit will be met from the Rs.7.5-billion ($153 million) terrorism risk pool, they said.
However, insurers who have issued public liability policies to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the Trident-Oberoi hotel, the targets of terrorists, and personal accident policies to employees with the risk of terrorism extension may have to face sizeable claims from the kin of the dead and the injured.
Though major portion of that could be reinsured, some part of the loss might have to be borne by the primary insures.
'Our liability policy covering the Trident-Oberoi hotel covers damage owing to acts of terrorism,' United India Insurance general manager A. Asthana told the media.
He said all these are reinsured with GIC.
The overall liability is around Rs.100 million ($2 million) and the risk is reinsured. The maximum net impact on the company will be around Rs.50 million, Asthana said.
Sitting comfortably among the insurers of the terrorist attacked hotels is the Mumbai-based New India Assurance that has insured only the properties of the Trident-Oberoi hotel.
Since the property damages will be met from the terrorism pool, New India would remain unscathed.
A long time insurer of Taj Mahal hotel property and employees, New India this year escaped as the account was bagged by three private insurers - Tata AIG General Insurance (65 percent share), ICICI Lombard General Insurance (30 percent) and IFFCO Tokio General Insurance (five percent).
According to industry officials, it will take at least two weeks for the insurance surveyors to assess the actual financial damage as the police and other investigating authorities have first to complete their job.
What will be tricky for the insurers are the liability claims that might be filed by the kin of the dead and injured guests at the hotels.
According to sources, the companies that will be in a spot are United India and Tata AIG, which have issued public liability policies covering terrorism risk respectively for Trident-Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels.
The two insurers will have to deal with sizeable claims under this policy as hundreds of hotel guests and visitors were killed and injured.
While United India is the sole seller of the Hoteliers Liability Policy to Trident-Oberoi, it is unclear whether Tata AIG has a co-insurance arrangement with other non-life insurers for this risk. Tata AIG officials could not be reached.
Source: Agencies
The claims for property damage as well as loss of profit will be met from the Rs.7.5-billion ($153 million) terrorism risk pool, they said.
However, insurers who have issued public liability policies to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the Trident-Oberoi hotel, the targets of terrorists, and personal accident policies to employees with the risk of terrorism extension may have to face sizeable claims from the kin of the dead and the injured.
Though major portion of that could be reinsured, some part of the loss might have to be borne by the primary insures.
'Our liability policy covering the Trident-Oberoi hotel covers damage owing to acts of terrorism,' United India Insurance general manager A. Asthana told the media.
He said all these are reinsured with GIC.
The overall liability is around Rs.100 million ($2 million) and the risk is reinsured. The maximum net impact on the company will be around Rs.50 million, Asthana said.
Sitting comfortably among the insurers of the terrorist attacked hotels is the Mumbai-based New India Assurance that has insured only the properties of the Trident-Oberoi hotel.
Since the property damages will be met from the terrorism pool, New India would remain unscathed.
A long time insurer of Taj Mahal hotel property and employees, New India this year escaped as the account was bagged by three private insurers - Tata AIG General Insurance (65 percent share), ICICI Lombard General Insurance (30 percent) and IFFCO Tokio General Insurance (five percent).
According to industry officials, it will take at least two weeks for the insurance surveyors to assess the actual financial damage as the police and other investigating authorities have first to complete their job.
What will be tricky for the insurers are the liability claims that might be filed by the kin of the dead and injured guests at the hotels.
According to sources, the companies that will be in a spot are United India and Tata AIG, which have issued public liability policies covering terrorism risk respectively for Trident-Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels.
The two insurers will have to deal with sizeable claims under this policy as hundreds of hotel guests and visitors were killed and injured.
While United India is the sole seller of the Hoteliers Liability Policy to Trident-Oberoi, it is unclear whether Tata AIG has a co-insurance arrangement with other non-life insurers for this risk. Tata AIG officials could not be reached.
Source: Agencies
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Are hotels world over a soft target for terrorists?
Attacks on two luxury hotels -The Taj and Trident- in the country's financial capital Mumbai have drawn attention again to the fact that hotels are a soft target for terrorists who want to capture world attention to their causes. The Mumbai incident follows previous attempts on hotels elsewhere in the world, one such incident in the recent past in Islamabad where a deadly blast targeted the Marriott hotel near Pakistan's Parliament, killing at least 40 people and wounded another 200.
In 2005 in Jordan, Al Qaeda conducted a series of coordinated bombing on three hotels in the capital city Amman on November 9. The blasts at at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn killed 60 people and injured 115 others.
Oen of the hotels was hosting a wedding with hundreds of guests. In October 2004, bombings at three sites on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula killed 34 people.
The Egyptian government said the mastermind was Palestinian and the targets appeared to be Israeli tourists. On August 5, 2003, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel in Indonesian capital Jakarta killing 12 people, including one Danish, one Dutch and two Chinese and injuring 150.
The hotel was viewed as a symbol of Western power and thus been the prime focus of terrorists. Another reason why hotels are being targeted is because of the kind of clientele, experts say.
Mumbai being the financial capital of the country at the centre of economic decision making there are numerous important delegates checking into one of the seven or five star hotels in the city.
Source: PTI
In 2005 in Jordan, Al Qaeda conducted a series of coordinated bombing on three hotels in the capital city Amman on November 9. The blasts at at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn killed 60 people and injured 115 others.
Oen of the hotels was hosting a wedding with hundreds of guests. In October 2004, bombings at three sites on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula killed 34 people.
The Egyptian government said the mastermind was Palestinian and the targets appeared to be Israeli tourists. On August 5, 2003, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel in Indonesian capital Jakarta killing 12 people, including one Danish, one Dutch and two Chinese and injuring 150.
The hotel was viewed as a symbol of Western power and thus been the prime focus of terrorists. Another reason why hotels are being targeted is because of the kind of clientele, experts say.
Mumbai being the financial capital of the country at the centre of economic decision making there are numerous important delegates checking into one of the seven or five star hotels in the city.
Source: PTI
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