Abu Jundal told 26/11 attackers to pray and kill hostages

New Delhi: The Delhi Police have arrested Abu Jundal, one of the key conspirators and handlers in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. He is the first Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative to be arrested after Ajmal Kasab. The operative is believed to have guided and controlled the terrorists at the Nariman House from a Karachi control room throughout the night of November 27, 2008.

Here are the instructions he gave to the Mumbai attackers at the Nariman House:

- As long as you have hostages, the police can't do anything.

The Delhi Police have arrested Abu Jundal, one of the key conspirators and handlers in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

- If there is any problem, if the pressure builds up, shoot them.

- Do a good job… support your partner.

- Keep your morale high and say your prayers.

In a major breakthrough for security agencies involved in the 26/11 probe, Jundal is believed to have been deported from Saudi Arabia and arrested by the Delhi Police after he reached the national capital, with the entire slick undercover operation being kept under wraps, including Jundal's production and remand in a court last week.

According to officials, Jundal was one of the five handlers present in the control room in Karachi. He was directing terrorists carrying out the Mumbai attacks at every step.

Jundal was also responsible for weapon training the terrorists and familiarising them with the Hindi language.

He was involved in a blast in Ahmedabad in 2006 and the Aurangabad arms haul the same year. He was named in the 26/11 chargesheet and was considered one of the most wanted.

Kasab's testimony to Mumbai police names Jundal for seeing off the 10 attackers at Pakistan shore. Abu Hamza, Abu Qaafa and Lakhvi were the others.

After the Aurangabad arms haul, Abu Jundal fled to Pakistan. There he became closely involved with the activities of the LeT and eventually started working towards plotting the 26/11 attacks. The Mumbai crime branch which is probing the attack will now be taking a voice sample to further confirm that he indeed was one of the handlers.

Quite contrary to high profile busts, the Delhi Police stayed mum in this case. Sources said this was an operation managed at a diplomatic level and involved many central agencies.

Abu Jundal was an important LeT operative handling the groups operations in India. His arrest will be crucial not only for taking investigations into the Mumbai attacks forward but also for our agencies to find out the current structure, reach and plans of Pakistan-based terror groups. What they will also focus on is to find out what he was doing in Saudi Arabia for the last several months

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