(CNN) -- Hemant Karkare, Mumbai's slain terror chief, was a shrewd and unflappable investigator whose death is a blow to a police force that has difficult work ahead, his colleagues said this week.
According to accounts in Indian newspapers, Karkare, 54, was credited with solving many crimes and did his job apolitically and with the utmost integrity.
"The state Anti-Terrorism Squad has lost a daredevil officer in Hemant Karkare," Peter Lobo, chief inspector of the Anti-Terror Squad in Pune, told The Times of India on Thursday.
Karkare, head of Maharashtra state's Anti-Terrorism Squad, was heading home Wednesday when he learned gunmen were attacking the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil told The Hindu newspaper.
Karkare later got word the situation at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was more serious. The terror chief and two other officers -- armed with automatic weapons -- jumped in a jeep and rushed to take on the terrorists, The Hindu reported.
Gunmen have carried out a series of co-ordinated attacks across the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), killing at least 80 people and injuring 200 more.
At least seven high-profile locations were hit in India's financial capital, including two luxury hotels where hostages were reported to be held.
A fire is sweeping through the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai's most famous hotel which is now ringed by troops.
Police said four suspected terrorists have been killed and nine arrested.
The situation is still confused but the main train station, a hospital, a restaurant and as well as the two hotels are among those places caught up in the violence.
There are reports of gunfire and explosions taking place elsewhere in the city.
Commandos have now surrounded the two hotels, the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi Trident, where it is believed that the armed men are holding dozens of hostages.
One eyewitness said that the attackers had singled out British and American passport holders.
If this report is true, our security correspondent Frank Gardner says it suggests that Islamic militants are behind the attack.
A claim of responsibility has been made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen.
The motive is far from clear - but the attacks come amid elections in several Indian states, including in disputed Kashmir.
In the latest developments:
-Police say an explosion heard inside the Oberoi was from a hand grenade, and flames and a massive plume of smoke are billowing from the Taj Mahal hotel
-The head of Mumbai's anti-terrorism unit and two other senior officers are among those killed, according to local TV
-The US and the UK have both condemned the attacks and Washington says it is "assessing the hostage situation"
-Gunmen opened fire at about 2300 local time at the sites in southern Mumbai.
Three Islamic militants were executed Saturday for the 2002 nightclub bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that left 202 people dead, many of them foreign tourists, officials and relatives said.
Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and his brother Ali Ghufron were executed at 11:30 p.m. several miles (kilometers) from their high security prison on Nusakambangan island, said Qadar Faisal, one of their lawyers.
Their bodies will be taken by helicopter to their home villages for burial early Sunday.
The Oct. 12, 2002 attacks — allegedly funded by al-Qaida and carried out by members of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah — thrust the world's most populous Muslim nation onto the front lines in the war on terror.
The three men never expressed remorse, saying the blasts were meant to punish the U.S. and its Western allies for alleged atrocities in Afghanistan and elsewhere. They even taunted relatives of victims at their trials five years ago.
Say hello to Rahm, our president-elect's new chief of staff. He speaks Hebrew and his father immigrated to the United States from Israel.
Throughout my blog posts, I have always been consistent with my belief that hating the president gets us absolutely nowhere--in fact, I think that the violent hatred the anti-Bush/war movement has created the last few years is partially responsible for the situation the country and the world are in today. I want President Obama to exceed and I, like all Americans, am honored to see history made...that does not mean that our new president should be given a free pass. My greatest fear is that he will follow through on his commitments to the "antiwar" groups and pull our soldiers out of Iraq, even after so much sacrifice from both Iraqis and Americans. Thankfully, it appears Barack will not do that...the heroes of Iraq have already triumphed over the forces of terrorism.
There is another thing I am very thankful for...I am so happy to see the election process over with. After two years of obsessive reporting on the news, it has finally come to an end. Now, let's try to solve the issues with something other than words.
