India had warnings of attack by sea

By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Days before militants struck Mumbai, Indian authorities were warned of an imminent attack by Islamist gunmen who would arrive by sea, according to a senior coast guard source.

The owner of the city's Taj Mahal hotel, at the centre of last week's carnage, said he had also received a warning of a possible attack and had stepped up security.

Indian authorities say the militants who attacked Mumbai, killing more than 180 people, belonged to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (L-e-T) group, also blamed for an attack on India's parliament in 2001.

"Yes, the coast guard and navy did have intelligence inputs that an L-e-T boat was to land in the creeks off the northwest Gujarat coast," a top coast guard official told Reuters, referring to the western state which borders Pakistan.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, he said he had received a warning three days before the attacks. Gujarat is to the north of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

Intelligence sources told the NDTV news channel they had issued a series of warnings of a possible attack on Mumbai by sea in the months leading up to last week's strike.

The latest, warning that the "sea wing" of Lashkar-e-Taiba was planning an attack, was issued on November 18, just eight days before the militants struck, the TV channel said.

An earlier intelligence report warned that the Gateway of India monument and the Oberoi-Trident hotel were among the possible targets, NDTV said. The owner of the Taj Mahal hotel confirmed he had also been warned.