The commandos should have better tactics and better equipment. Do they have any surveilance robots? Even low-tech ways to gather info, such as putting tiny cameras on extendable booms. Also; lowering same on wires from above. Altogether, it sounds like a failure of commando tactics and gumption on the part of the Indian special forces.
The Battle of Nariman House
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Gunfire could be heard from multiple directions, lasting about 10 minutes.
A pattern started to emerge. A volley of rounds from pistols, machine guns and sniper rifles, almost all from the Indian commandos, lasted about 10 or 20 minutes, and was followed by a half-hour of silence. A local businessman whose large residential development is opposite Nariman House bemoaned the effect the violence will have on his business. Although parts of Bombay have seen crime and shoot-outs from underworld activities, "this part of Bombay has never ever seen this kind of disturbance," he said. "This is a very secure area." Or so it was.
As evening approached the commandos entered the fifth-floor apartment from the roof and draped a red flag in the window—some kind of signal, perhaps, to their comrades. That's when it became clear they don't have radios. To communicate they would either speak in-person or use their cell phones.
The sniper teams continued shooting into the fourth floor—where the gunmen and hostages were expected to be holed up—shooting through broken glass and faded cream-colored curtains. Close to five in the afternoon the commandos fired a succession of rockets into the fourth floor, taking out what little remained to obscure the view into the flat. The building's upper walls are now thoroughly pockmarked and soot-covered.
Commandos could be seen walking around the first floor, and moving around the stairwell. They leaned over the roof and shot down, into the windows. More explosions and small arms fire could be heard.
At 5:30 pm the fourth floor of Nariman House exploded, rocking all of south Bombay and sending nearby journalists to the ground. Locals suspected that the gunmen detonated a quantity of RDX, a compound used in making bombs. Incredibly, gunmen were apparently still alive inside: Commandos entered the flat, emptying ammunition clips in quick succession.
As darkness drew near, floodlights once again illuminated the side of the building. But now there was no more waiting. The last gunman had been killed.
What was an occasional collective cheer from a crowd on the street below crescendoed into something louder and more uncontrolled. The street filled with throngs of people, cheering and chanting: 'India is free' and 'long live mother India.'
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