Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 80 people were killed and 240 injured in the Indian city of Mumbai in grenade and gun attacks late yesterday, with five-star hotels among the sites targeted, officials said.

As many as 15 people may have been taken hostage at the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, the Press Trust of India reported. The news agency said a senior anti-terrorism officer was among those killed.

A little known Islamist group called the Deccan Mujahadeen claimed responsibility for the raids, PTI reported.

Multiple attacks have rocked India’s cities this year with bombs planted in markets, theaters and near mosques. Mumbai is an international financial hub, and the location of the attacks caused concern that tourists and visiting business people, as well as residents, may be among those killed or wounded.

Unilever Chief Executive Officer Patrick Cescau, who is visiting the city, “is safe,” Gerbert van Genderen Stort, a Rotterdam-based company spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. Cescau, who runs the world’s second-largest consumer- products maker, and the rest of Unilever’s management team are “perfectly safe,” Tim Johns, a London-based spokesman said in a separate e-mail. Johns declined to disclose any details on Cescau’s whereabouts.

The U.S. State Department said it wasn’t aware of any American casualties in the attacks “at this point.”

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks,” said spokesman Robert Wood. “We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks.”

Two Australians were among those injured, the Australian government said.

Hotels Surrounded

Hundreds of police ringed the Taj, Trident and Oberoi hotels and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in the south of the city, NDTV reported. Television images showed a fire in one of the wings of the Taj, with smoke billowing out.

The two attackers at the Trident had entered one of the hotel restaurants and said they were looking for U.S. and British nationals. They had taken about 15 people hostage, an eyewitness told Times TV.

“Some terrorist incidents are happening, some grenades were lobbed,” A.N. Roy, director general of police for Maharashtra state, said in a telephone interview. “Give us some time to get a clearer picture.”

Police said the two attackers at the Oberoi had escaped, and two suspected terrorists were subsequently killed when driving away from the direction of the hotel, Times TV said.

The Oberoi is located in Nariman Point, Mumbai’s financial district. Previous guests have included News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, according to the hotel’s Web site. The Oberoi Group, founded in 1934, also operates the luxury Trident hotel brand.

Shootings, Explosion

Shootings occurred outside Cafe Leopold, also in the Colaba tourist area of south Mumbai, CNN-IBN television reported. There was an explosion near a junction in Vile Parle, near the airport, Times TV said. The remains of a taxicab were strewn at the blast site, television pictures showed. Another explosion in a taxi was reported at Mazgaon dockyard road, according to PTI.

The government has previously blamed terrorist attacks on organizations linked to foreign powers, without offering evidence or making arrests. Local media often blame the attacks on groups backed by Pakistan or Bangladesh, without identifying the security officials who provided the information.

The capital New Delhi was rocked by five blasts during an evening rush hour in September, killing as many as 26 people and injuring about 133. Indian Mujahadeen, which claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, said it was behind the blasts.

Suspected Terrorists

Police killed two suspected terrorists Sept. 19 in a gun battle in the Jamia Nagar area and arrested five people in connection with the blasts. Three of the arrested men belong to Indian Mujahadeen, police said.

Sixteen bombs exploded in Ahmedabad within 20 minutes late on July 26, a day after seven bombs tore through India’s technology hub of Bangalore, killing two. At least 20 devices hidden in cars and garbage cans were discovered and defused in the Gujarat city of Surat, days after the Ahmedabad blasts.

Between January 2004 and March 2007 the death toll from terrorist attacks in India was 3,674, second only to Iraq during the same period, according to the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington.

Indian tourist arrivals climbed 10 percent in the first nine months of the year to 3.87 million people, generating $8.8 billion in revenue, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Foreign direct investment into the country more than doubled between April and August to $14.6 billion.

To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Foxwell at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 26, 2008 17:03 EST