Mumbai frozen in shock

Police have thrown security cordons around large areas of the city

By Adam Mynott BBC News, Mumbai

Mumbai remains gripped by sheer suspicion and shock.

The south of the city has been rocked by a series of very loud explosions coming from the Taj Palace Hotel and a Jewish apartment block, Nariman House, nearby.

Some of the blasts appear to have been stun grenades thrown by Indian security forces.

Other explosions are much louder.

At one point, a loud blast blew out the windows of a room at one corner of the Taj Palace Hotel.

Indian forces use a grenade to flush out militants from the Taj Palace Hotel

At the Jewish residential block earlier today, helicopters hovered over the building and special forces dropped on ropes onto the roof of the building.

Indian forces say they have successfully ended the security operation at another luxury hotel, the Oberoi.

A senior Indian officer said the building was secured and two "terrorists" killed, as he put it.

He also said the bodies of more than 20 guests and staff had been found inside the hotel.

Ghost town

Police have thrown security cordons around large areas of southern parts of the city to keep members of the public and the media well back from where the shooting and the explosions have been taking place.

The streets of Mumbai are very quiet.

Normally the roads in this city are blocked from dawn to dusk with teeming traffic.

The streets of Mumbai are quieter than usual as many residents stay home

But thousands of residents of Mumbai have decided not to go to work today. They've stayed at home.

Ahmad Meckla, who runs a hospital in the south of the city, told me it has not been safe to go to work.

"I've done my work on the phone from home today. It's safer that way."

Coastal watch

The attackers told one witness to get on with her work while they got on with theirs

A spokesman for India's coast guard says the Indian navy is continuing to pursue suspect vessels at sea because the attackers arrived by boat on small dinghies.

He would not go into details because he feared any information might prejudice their operation.

But he said the navy is attempting to intercept what it fears may be more than one mother ship.

Anita Rajendra Udya, the wife of a fisherman, saw one of the dinghies arrive late on Wednesday night with six of the attackers on board.

She told me she asked the men what they were doing. They told her to get on with her work while they got on with theirs.

The operation at Nariman House appeared to be ending

She said they were carrying blue knapsacks in which she believed their weapons were concealed and they disappeared into the city.

She said a short time afterwards, she heard shooting.

The police then turned up to the fishing community, impounded the boat and took it away.

As night falls, it appears that the security operation at the Taj Palace Hotel and the Jewish community centre has stepped up a gear.

There have been more loud explosions coming from both buildings and at the time of writing, it appears as though the security operation at the Jewish residential block, Nariman House, may be coming to an end.

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