Click to play videoMumbai, the jewel in India’s crown with its glittering landmarks including the Taj Hotel, was to be the target. But the plan, the planners and the 10 men who would cold-bloodedly carry it all out came from far away.
There was unusual energy at the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) camp. Commander Hafeez Saeed and operational commander Zaki-ur-Rehman were satisfied with the progress of a special batch of 10 terrorists who were to carry out India’s deadliest terror strike.
They had coped well with months of tough training, mentally hardened for a bold suicide mission against India.
Months after getting caught, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab – the only terrorist captured alive during the 26/11 attack – described the indoctrination.
"It all depends on you and your life. You are still left in poverty while they (India) are ahead… He kept saying that keep killing till you are alive," Kasab said about his handlers.
Kasab's background was ideal for Hafeez Saeed's recruitment needs. His village Faridkot is in Punjab province's backward Okara district. At 21, the elementary school dropout was a daily-wage labourer, often without work.
He says his father, a poor dahi-wada seller, pushed him to join the LeT.
Kasab says he was told: "You will earn well. There will be no problem. So I thought why not".
Kasab joined the LeT in December 2007, initially just one among many recruits being given basic training – the Daura-e-Sufa.
"First there was training for a month. Once you learn then there is an advanced three-month training. Once you are ready then say now go get ready to die," Kasab told the police while interrogation.
Kasab was then selected for the second level – Daura-e-Aam which is learning the use military weapons.
"It was not given single handedly. There is a whole set up at Muridke, Muzaffarabad to train them. He was not trained alone, he was trained in batches along with a group of boys who were with him. So, there is a whole infrastructure of LeT. He has been trained in firing almost all automatic weapons like AK 47, pistols, grenade launchers, mortars. He has been trained how to fix up an IAD, how to diffuse it," Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti explained.
To which Joint Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria added, "The type of training, the handling of the weapons, the fixing of the timers, the batteries on the IADs, the lobbying of hand grenades, how to take cover, how to repulse an attack by the security agencies – this is something that cannot be taught by a layman, it has to be either by a serving serviceman or an ex-serviceman, somebody in the police force, somebody in the security agencies has to be involved in this training."
And then, the final level – Daura-e-Khas in the jungles of Chelabandi Pahadi in Muzaffarabad for endurance training and learning all about guerilla warfare.
The mission
By July 2008, the Lashkar's operational commander Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi had selected the final 10 men for the mission. Aged between 18-24, before leaving the 10 terrorists were sent to meet their families, one last time. Kasab, too, visited his small home in Faridkot to get a hero's welcome.
"When he went back to his village, the first time after the Lashkar training, people looked at him with a different respect. People invited him over for dinner, for a meal to their homes, so this newfound respect and purpose on life that was provided to him, I think that’s where something needs to be done on that," Rakesh Maria said.
The terror team was next given marine training off the coast of Karachi.
Most of the 10 men were not familiar with the sea. So a crash course had been worked out by their trainers – some basics of marine navigation like how to handle a boat in the high seas, even tips on how to seem like fishermen. Kasab in his confession has clearly mentioned this.
Right through their training the 10 terrorists were not given any details of the mission ahead.
"One group did not know the target given to the other group. They were administered the code that you will not speak to each other and ask each other's targets. They were shown the targets and just focusing their mind on the target as to how they were going to attack the targets," Maria explained.
Meanwhile, by September 2008 Hafeez Saeed and Lakhvi had also activated two key India operatives – Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.
Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti said, "Both are LeT operatives and before they were caught, Sabauddin was head of the Indian module. He was based in Kathmandu and was passing instructions and carrying out operations in India. Fahim Ansari was asked by LeT to draw sketches of various targets in Mumbai which he passed to Sabauddin who then passed it to LeT."
The Indian links
In Mumbai, Fahim Ansari had taken up a room at the Batatawala Chawl on Patthe Bapurao Marg. For added cover he got admitted to the Soft Pro Computer Education Council. Fahim's task was to map key targets in the city on paper and on video.
Operating out of Batatawala Chawl for over three months, Fahim visited locations such as the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus. He drew detailed maps. Fahim allegedly also drew sketches of key routes in South Mumbai, marking out places like the Azad Maidan, the Taj and the Oberoi Hotel.
Fahim allegedly handed his maps and video CDs to Sabauddin Ahmed, his associate in Kathmandu, who then sent the material to the Lashkar trainers in Pakistan. With key information now arriving from Ground Zero, the 10 terrorists were finally told that their target was Mumbai.
The 10 men were divided into five pairs, each given specific locations to target in South Mumbai.
Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan, were asked to target the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus to cause maximum loss of life at this location which is the nation’s busiest railway terminus.
Babar and Nasir were to head to the Nariman House, owned by the Chabad of India Trust, an orthodox Jewish organization. This was a deliberate plan to target American Jews.
Abdul Rehman Chota and Fahadullah were told to attack the five-star Trident Hotel and target the nation’s social and corporate elite.
Abu Shoaib and Abu Umer were to attack Café Leopold, a popular joint with foreign tourists. This was done to ensure maximum foreign casualties. They were then to join Hafiz Arshad and Javed and together attack the grand old lady of Apollo-Bunder – Mumbai’s Taj Hotel.
"Since, there were four different targets – Oberoi, Taj, Nariman House and CST, they divided these people into buddy pairs, each was given a specific target, right through the training period. In the last three months of the training period they were totally focused on their respective targets," Maria said.
"That is why the buddy pairs were made, so that they could go to the different locations. During the selection one aggressive person and one cool-minded person were kept together. That is how the buddy pairs were made," he added.
The Journey
At the dawn of November 23, Kasab and his nine associates were given their final words of motivation. Kasab and his accomplices were told that God will be with them on their mission.
"Before they boarded, they embraced each other and the handlers because they knew they were not going to meet each other again," Maria said.
The team boarded a small boat at Karachi port with no belongings. 25 nautical miles into the high seas they were moved to a bigger launch. And an hour later, an even bigger ship, the al Huseini lay waiting for them.
"Each was carrying a rucksack with AK-47 (on an average eight-10 magazines each), 7.65 mm pistol (two magazines each), a lot of loose rounds, hand grenades - between 10 to 12 and a lot of loose ammunition. They also carried dry fruits to sustain them during the seize period. This backpack would have weighed anywhere between 15-20 kgs," Maria explained.
After about four hours of sailing, the al Huseini approached the Gujarat coast. All was quiet and normal till the crew noticed an Indian fishing trawler, the MV Kuber. After consulting their handlers over satellite phone the terrorists decided to hijack it.
Of the five Indian sailors on board the Kuber, four were forced onto the al Husseni and instantly killed. Only Amarsingh Solanki, the Kuber's navigator was kept alive.
According to Maria, "they needed someone to navigate them right from where they boarded it in Pakistani waters upto Mumbai. Amarsingh Solanki was the tandel, the captain, so, he could do that task. Secondly, along the way, if they were stopped, they needed an Indian-looking person to be there on board."
The terrorists swiftly transferred their deadly cargo onto the Kuber and then jumped on. Along with extra food and blankets, extra containers of diesel were also transferred to the Kuber to fuel the 580 nautical mile journey to Mumbai.
After three days at sea, sailing down the Indian west coast, the Kuber was close to Mumbai. It was time for action but the navigator was now a liability. It is then that Kasab beheaded him and his body was thrown into the Kuber's engine room.
Just miles away from the city's coast they began inflating the rubber dinghy, their final means of reaching the shore undetected.
Mumbai mayhem
In just three hours the Trident Hotel, standing at one end of Mumbai’s Marine Drive was going to be a terror target. As Mumbaikars watched the sun set and people headed home, no one had any inkling about the invaders from the sea.
In the congested shanties of the Machimaar Colony in Badhwar Park, South Mumbai there was much excitement. An explosive Virender Sehwag was helping India cruise to another win over England in Cuttack, completing a rare five-nil ODI whitewash – giving Mumbai, like rest of India a big reason to celebrate.
Meanwhile, an anonymous rubber dinghy with 10 mean on board approached the unsuspecting fishing village.
Eight men got off, each carrying a huge haversack. They divided themselves into four pairs and started to walk away. The dinghy with two men still on board moved away heading towards Nariman Point, close to the Hotel Oberoi.
Bharat Tandel, a local fisherman was among the few who noticed this unusual landing. He says he clearly saw Kasab among the men as they moved off.
Before he could ask any more questions, the two men pushed Bharat aside, and walked away. What the two fishermen didn't know was that within the next hour, India would change forever.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
