The two luxury hotels targeted in the Mumbai terror attacks prepared Saturday to reopen for the first time since the rampages that killed 172 people and left the Oberoi and Taj Mahal in tatters last month. The Oberoi Group said it would reopen rooms in the Trident portion of its hotel Sunday, nearly a month after 10 accused militants stormed into several Mumbai landmarks on Nov. 26. The Taj Mahal Group said the tower wing of its Taj Mahal Palace and Tower will reopen Sunday evening. The Oberoi's Trident will be outfitted with surveillance systems, baggage scanners and strict security, Trident Hotels President Rattan Keswani told reporters. “I think all of us are concerned about a complete deterrent” to any future attacks, he said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. “We need armed presence, and we are adding to it.” Militants from the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba are accused of staging the attacks that kicked off a three-day siege that paralyzed much of the country's commercial capital. Nine of the alleged gunmen were killed, and one is in police custody. The attacks bared glaring gaps in India's security and intelligence apparatus and have heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi calling on Islamabad to take stronger action against the suspected masterminds of the attack. Pakistan, which has cracked down on a charity connected to Lashkar-e-Taiba, says India first must share evidence proving the group's complicity.
