At least 44 people were killed and 100 others injured as terrorists stormed the famous Swaminarain temple complex Tuesday in Gandhinagar in west India's Gujarat state, the Press Trust of India said.
However, unofficial reports put the toll at 50 killed in the latest terrorist attack.
Two holed up terrorists on a suicide mission were engaged till late in the night in a gun battle with security forces joined by National Security Guard (NSG) commandos flown from Delhi.
Taking a vantage position, the two terrorists have inflicted injuries on security personnel trying to get closer for overpowering them.
At least 500 people had been rescued by security forces, DeputyPrime Minister L K Advani said in Delhi before flying along with some 50 NSG commandos to Ahmedabad to personally supervise the operation.
A temple spokesman, Bhrama Biharidas, said about 100 people arebelieved to be inside the multimedia auditorium but they appeared to be safe.
Local officials said that 44 people have been killed and their bodies have been shifted to civil hospitals in Gandhinagar and in Ahmedabad.
The attack coincided with the second phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir. The militants stormed the complex around 5 p.m., jumped over one of the gates and shot two employees of the temple before indulging in indiscriminate firing and lobbing of grenades.
Among the dead were at least six women and four children who were among hundreds of devotees who had thronged the temple for traditional evening prayer.
Though no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack, Advani said it was done by enemies of the nation to divertattention from the successful conduct of elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Advani reached Gandhinagar Tuesday night to oversee operations to end the terrorist attack on the temple there.
(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2002)
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