Investigations into the November 26 terror attack on Mumbai have further established the role of the top leadership of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
in the grisly crime.
According to sources, arrested terrorist Ajmal has told them in detail about the direct involvement of Zakiur Rahman, alias Chachu, in the assault on Mumbai. Zakiur, one of the senior-most Amirs of Lashkar, has so far been known for keeping a distance from the cells that the terrorist outfit routinely sends to cause mayhem in India. In this instance, Chachu - called so because of his seniority - was at hand to see off the group when Ajmal and his fellow jihadis set out from Karachi's Azizabad to strike at Mumbai.
Top ATS sources said Zakiur's personal involvement denotes the importance that Lashkar attached to the latest of a series of terror offensives against Mumbai.
Sources disclosed that a joint intelligence committee on November 19 had sent a message to the Coast Guard and other authorities concerned saying that they had intercepted a telephonic conversation wherein the caller had said, '' Hum pahunch rehe hain (we are reaching)''. The suspicious call was decoded and an alert was sent to all authorities.
According to police, they found a Pakistan-based mobile number in the satphone seized from Ismail who was killed in an encounter near Girgaum on the night of the blasts. The city crime branch probing the terror attack case called up on that number where the receiver asked in Urdu, '' Who is speaking?'' the officer replied, '' Allah ka banda.''
Hearing this, the receiver hung up the phone. In another find which will further tie Lashkar to the crime, the satphone, which contains several international numbers, has a mobile number on which Fahim Ansari (35), an LeT operative, had made several calls before he was arrested in February by the UP Special Task Force (STF).
Ansari was part of the Lashkar cell which attacked the CRPF camp in Rampur in UP on January 1. His interrogation revealed a Lashkar plot to attack Mumbai. Ansari was also accused of doing a recce of more than 12 places in Mumbai for two months. They included Hotel Taj Mahal, Hilton Tower, the police commissioner's office, the state police headquarters and Churchgate station. Following Ansari's revelations, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), which later arrested Ansari, had then said that an organised and well planned strategy was being adopted by the LeT to target the country's financial capital.
Ansari had also disclosed that LeT was planning a severe terror strike in Mumbai and that he had been asked to look for two safe houses, one for himself and the other to store weapons.
Crime branch chief Rakesh Maria had said the militants were to return after taking hostages with them. It is also learnt that the GPS on Kuber, the boat which was used by the 10 terrorists, had a set time of 11.30 pm (Friday) in the clock.
Police said that a resident of Motilal Nagar in Goregaon, Ansari had spent six months at a training camp in Pakistan's Muzaffarabad after he went missing from Dubai where he was employed in a printing press.
According to sources, arrested terrorist Ajmal has told them in detail about the direct involvement of Zakiur Rahman, alias Chachu, in the assault on Mumbai. Zakiur, one of the senior-most Amirs of Lashkar, has so far been known for keeping a distance from the cells that the terrorist outfit routinely sends to cause mayhem in India. In this instance, Chachu - called so because of his seniority - was at hand to see off the group when Ajmal and his fellow jihadis set out from Karachi's Azizabad to strike at Mumbai.
Top ATS sources said Zakiur's personal involvement denotes the importance that Lashkar attached to the latest of a series of terror offensives against Mumbai.
Sources disclosed that a joint intelligence committee on November 19 had sent a message to the Coast Guard and other authorities concerned saying that they had intercepted a telephonic conversation wherein the caller had said, '' Hum pahunch rehe hain (we are reaching)''. The suspicious call was decoded and an alert was sent to all authorities.
According to police, they found a Pakistan-based mobile number in the satphone seized from Ismail who was killed in an encounter near Girgaum on the night of the blasts. The city crime branch probing the terror attack case called up on that number where the receiver asked in Urdu, '' Who is speaking?'' the officer replied, '' Allah ka banda.''
Hearing this, the receiver hung up the phone. In another find which will further tie Lashkar to the crime, the satphone, which contains several international numbers, has a mobile number on which Fahim Ansari (35), an LeT operative, had made several calls before he was arrested in February by the UP Special Task Force (STF).
Ansari was part of the Lashkar cell which attacked the CRPF camp in Rampur in UP on January 1. His interrogation revealed a Lashkar plot to attack Mumbai. Ansari was also accused of doing a recce of more than 12 places in Mumbai for two months. They included Hotel Taj Mahal, Hilton Tower, the police commissioner's office, the state police headquarters and Churchgate station. Following Ansari's revelations, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), which later arrested Ansari, had then said that an organised and well planned strategy was being adopted by the LeT to target the country's financial capital.
Ansari had also disclosed that LeT was planning a severe terror strike in Mumbai and that he had been asked to look for two safe houses, one for himself and the other to store weapons.
Crime branch chief Rakesh Maria had said the militants were to return after taking hostages with them. It is also learnt that the GPS on Kuber, the boat which was used by the 10 terrorists, had a set time of 11.30 pm (Friday) in the clock.
Police said that a resident of Motilal Nagar in Goregaon, Ansari had spent six months at a training camp in Pakistan's Muzaffarabad after he went missing from Dubai where he was employed in a printing press.
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